ress  Club 
,  Outing. 


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BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 

MICHAEL    H.    DE    YOUNG,    PROPRIETOR    SAN    FRANCISCO    CHRONICLE. 
PRESIDENT  INTERNATIONAL  LEAGUE  OK   PRESS    CLUBS. 


A  Press  Club 
Outing. 


A  trip     .... 

Across  the  Continent  to  attend   the   First  Convention 
^of  the  International  League  of  Press  Clubs. 


BY 


Thomson  P.  McElrath, 

Historian   of  the  Trip. 


NEW  YORK: 

International   League  of    Press  Clubs. 
1893. 


\A  IS" 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,   in   the  year  1893,  by  Thomson   P.   McElrath, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,   D.  C. 


THE  JAMES  KEMI-STEK  PRINTING  COMI-ANY, 

H7-1IQ-I21  Liberty  Street, 

New  York. 


u.  c. 

OAOEMY   O 
ICIFIC  COAST 
HISTORY 


HIS   brief    record    of   a  very  agreeable   journey 
from  t]ie  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  back  again, 
liad    its   origin    in    a    resolution   adopted  by  the 
Convention  of  the  International  League  of  Press 
Chibs,  in  session  in  the  rooms  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco  Press    Club,    January     i^th,     1892.        The 
official  report  of  the  proceedings  of  that  Conven- 
tion refers  to  the  subject  as  follows  : 

"On  the  motion  of  MR.  WF.LSHONS,  of  Pittsburgh,  Major 
T.  P.  McELRATH,  of  New  York,  was  elected  Historian  of  the 
League,  to  prepare  a  book  descriptive  of  the  California  trip ; 
with  the  President  and  Secretary  as  an  advisory  committee,  to 
arrange  for  the  publication  of  the  work." 

The  preparation  of  the  book  has  been  attended  with 
delays  and  hindrances  both  potent  and  unavoidable,  for 
which  the  writer  alone  is  responsible,  and  for  which  he 
asks  the  friendly  indulgence  of  his  fellozu  travelers. 
Similar  lenity  he  trusts  they  will  accord  to  the  book 
itself,  accepting  it  rather  in  the  light  of  a  completed  task 
than  in  that  of  a  finished  production.  It  is  too  little 
a  pudding  to  contain  many  plums.  Its  purpose,  as  the 
writer  conceives  it,  will  be  fully  served  if  it  proves 
adequate  to  keep  alive  the  delightful  personal  associations 
connected  with  the  three  memorable  weeks  of  sunshine  and 
pleasure  enjoyed  by  the  Press  Club  Delegates  to  the  San 
Francisco  Convention. 


PREFACE. 


At  a  public  meeting  of  the  International  League  of  Press 
Clubs  in  the  Powell  Street  Opera  House,  San  Francisco,  on  the 
evening  of  January  i5th,  1892,  more  than  twenty  letters  from  the 
most  eminent  and  successful  men  in  journalism  and  literature  were 
read,  and  were  received  with  cordial  applause  by  the  laige 
audience.  Extracts  from  a  few  of  them  will  give  an  accurate  idea 
of  the  tenor  of  their  expressions.  Mr.  George  William  Curtis 
wrote:  "The  general  objects  of  the  League  of  Press  Clubs,  as  I 
understand  them,  seem  to  me  worthy  of  the  most  zealous  promotion. 
I  see  no  good  reason  why  the  courtesy  of  the  press  should  not  be 
as  distinguished  as  its  independence  and  vigor."  Mr.  Chester  S. 
Lord  wrote:  "I  approve  most  assuredly  of  the  objects  and 
purposes  which  have  led  to  the  organization  of  the  International 
League,  and  I  wish  the  association  every  possible  success."  Hon. 
Theodore  Barth  wrote  from  Berlin :  "  Unfortunately,  my  duties 
as  a  member  of  the  German  Reichstag,  just  now  in  session,  do 
not  permit  the  acceptance  of  the  invitation.  This  I  regret  so 
much  more  because,  in  my  opinion,  the  idea  of  uniting  repre- 
sentatives of  the  press  in  international  congresses  is  a  very  happy 
one.  In  view  of  the  far-reaching  and  constantly  growing 
influence  of  the  press,  its  representatives  can  do  more  than  legis- 
lators and  diplomats  for  maintaining  friendly  relations  among 
nations,  towards  removing  nativistic  prejudices,  for  exercising 
international  justice  and  fostering  especially  interests  which  are 
common  to  all  mankind."  Colonel  John  A.  Cockerill  wrote  :  "I 
believed  in  the  League  from  the  outset.  The  best  results  must 


flow  from  the  establishment  of  the  closer  brotherhood  among  the 
press  workers  of  both  hemispheres."  Dr.  Max  Nordeau  wrote 
from  Paris :  "  I  am  at  heart  with  you.  I  highly  appreciate 
your  noble  aim,  and  think  it  a  most  happy  idea  to  unite  all  the 
press  workers  of  the  world  in  one  great  brotherhood."  Hon. 
Amos  J.  Cummings  wrote :  "I  hope  that  the  International  League 
of  Press  Clubs  will  finally  include  delegates  from  press  clubs  in 
every  State  in  the  United  States  where  a  daily  newspaper  is 
published."  The  other  letters  were  similar  in  their  endorsements 
of  the  plans  and  purposes  of  the  organization  of  the  newspaper 
workers  of  the  world.  These  quotations  are  made  for  the  reason 
that  the  writers  represent  the  various  phases  of  practical  and 
successful  journalism. 

There  has  always  been  a  need  of  a  general  association  of  the 
people  who  write  and  edit  newspapers,  but  one  great  obstacle 
stood  in  the  way  of  those  who  tried  to  carry  the  matter  to  a 
substantial  result.  Newspaper  men  are  bothered  with  hard  things 
called  opinions,  and  when  the  matter  is  close  to  their  own  interests 
the  opinion  is  apt  to  be  somewhat  narrow,  which,  of  course,  goes 
to  show  that  the  newspaper  men  are  painfully  like  the  rest  of  their 
race.  So,  while  the  journalism  of  the  world  has  been  the  evangel 
and  the  messenger  boy  of  civilization,  and  has  spread  progress 
and  culture  and  humanity  until  its  scope  has  measured  to  the  limit 
of  human  achievement,  with  all  the  widening  possibilities  of  life 
itself,  the  newspaper  men,  as  a  profession,  have  not  done  what 
they  could  have  done  to  get  together  and  to  receive  the  benefits 
that  must  always  come  from  association.  The  reasons  for  this 
are  many,  and  all  are  sufficient.  In  the  first  place,  the  bees  in 
the  hive  are  busy  bees,  always  at  work  making  honey — or 
the  other  thing — and  with  few  spare  moments  for  .  assembling 
under  the  roses  to  discuss  co-operative  industry  and  organized 


courtesy.  Then,  too,  the  different  swarms  have  shown  a  great 
fondness  for  swarming  by  themselves  without  even  the  formality  of 
fraternal  greetings  to  the  other  swarms.  And  so  it  has  gone  on 
until  the  International  League  of  Press  Clubs  has  opened  a  way 
along  which  all  may  go. 

There  are  numerous  organizations  of  editors  and  publishers  in 
this  and  other  countries,  and  all  are  useful,  but  they  are  organiza- 
tions of  representatives  of  newspapers.  The  League  differs  from 
them  in  that  it  binds  together  the  associations  of  newspaper  men. 
It  represents  the  journalists  as  individuals  rather  than  the  news- 
papers as  institutions.  It  is  more  social  in  its  ambition,  and  "  its 
objects,"  to  quote  its  Constitution,  "are  to  bring  into  close  and 
friendly  relations  the  press  clubs  of  the  world,  and  promote  a  more 
fraternal  and  helpful  feeling  among  its  members."  It  thus 
antagonizes  none  of  the  other  organizations,  but  invites  the  favor 
and  co-operation  of  all.  The  desire,  especially,  is  to  organize  the 
men  and  women  of  the  daily  press  more  thoroughly.  Press  Clubs 
with  us  are  modern.  They  are  the  out-growth  of  the  new 
conditions  in  journalism.  As  they  multiplied  and  became  greater 
in  membership  and  more  important  in  material  prosperity  than  all 
the  other  Press  Clubs  in  the  world,  they  felt  the  wisdom  of  a 
closer  communion  of  interests  and  began  to  discuss  means  by 
which  mutual  advantages  could  be  secured.  About  ten  years  ago 
the  project  of  a  national  association  was  mooted.  Shortly  after- 
wards the  New  York  Press  Club  sent  out  circulars  calling  for  a 
meeting  of  representatives  of  all  the  Press  Clubs  of  the  country. 
Differences  between  the  East  and  West  defeated  the  enterprise 
and  it  was  not  until  a  few  years  ago  that  it  was  revived.  Mr. 
Thomas  J.  Keenan,  Jr.,  then  Secretary,  and  afterwards  President, 
of  the  Pittsburgh  Press  Club,  entered  into  correspondence  with 
the  Clubs  of  Canada  and  the  United  States,  and  the  outcome  of 


his  work  was  a  formal  invitation  to  "the  journalistic  organizations 
of  the  United  States,  Canada,  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  the  capital 
cities  of  Europe  and  South  America,  to  send  delegates  to  a 
Convention  to  be  held  in  Pittsburgh,  on  January  27th,  1891,  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  an  International  Association  of  Press  Clubs." 

Twenty-three  clubs  were  represented  in  the  Convention.  The 
visitors  were  royally  entertained.  In  the  three  days  the  League 
was  born,  christened  and  matured,  and  Mr.  Keenan  was  unanimously 
elected  its  first  President.  The  merits  of  the  movement  were 
briefly :  The  association  of  the  organizations  of  the  newspaper 
men  and  newspaper  women  of  the  world ;  the  interchangeable 
credentials  that  admitted  the  member  of  one  club  to  all  clubs  of 
the  League ;  the  mutual  assistance  and  encouragement  of  League 
members,  and  the  general  purpose  to  give  the  profession,  or 
calling,  as  you  wish,  the  broadest  benefits  of  organization.  The 
League  met  with  immediate  favor,  and  the  proof  of  its  usefulness 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  since  it  was  established  the  press  clubs  in 
this  country  have  increased  nearly  one  hundred  per  cent,  in  number, 
and  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent,  in  membership.  The  coming 
in  of  the  German  Press  Clubs,  and  many  of  the  Women  Press 
Clubs,  had  a  decided  effect  upon  the  life  of  the  new  organization. 

In  the  pages  which  follow,  Major  McElrath  tells  most 
delightfully  the  story  of  a  wonderful  journey.  The  League  had 
been  invited  to  various  cities,  but  San  Francisco's  offer  of  sunshine 
and  flowers  in'  January  won  the  overwhelming  favor  of  the 
Convention.  For  months  previous  to  the  opening  of  1892,  the 
Board  of  Governors  was  holding  meetings  in  New  York,  shaping 
the  affairs  of  the  League  and  completing  the  arrangements  for  the 
transcontinental  tour.  The  marvels  of  California's  hospitality,  the 
constant  newness  of  scene  and  incident,  and  the  beauty  and  the 
glory  of  it  all,  are  described  by  Major  McElrath.  But,  outside  of 


the  entertainment,  much  was  done  by  the  delegates  representing 
Press  Clubs  in  nearly  twenty  States  of  the  country,  and  indirectly 
representing  thousands  of  newspaper  workers.  Especially  important 
was  the  inauguration  of  a  scheme  to  establish  a  home  for  aged  and 
infirm  journalists.  The  attention  that  the  trip  attracted  can  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  more  than  four  hundred  columns  of 
matter  was  written  about  it  in  the  newspapers,  including  reports  of 
the  speeches,  which  have  been  omitted  from  this  otherwise  faithful 
narrative  because  it  was  desirable  to  limit  the  book  to  one  volume 
and  not  to  publish  it  on  the  instalment  plan. 

Of  course,  the  League  is  not  old  enough  to  be  judged  as  an 
international  organization.  Its  career  thus  far  is  mainly  experimental, 
but  that  there  is  need  of  it  is  evident.  It  represents  the  better 
aspirations  of  a  calling  that  has  the  leadership  of  thought  and 
progress  as  its  destiny.  There  is  no  evolution  more  remarkable 
than  that  which  is  going  on  in  journalism.  Already  the  advance 
has  been  beyond  every  expectation,  not  only  in  methods  and 
resources  but  in  men  and  manners.  Times  have  changed  since  the 
days  when  ministers  were  hauled  up  before  their  brothers  and  tried 
for  making  and  selling  whiskey,  not  because  they  made  and  sold 
whiskey,  but  because  the  whiskey  was  bad.  Times  have  changed 
since  the  judge  adjourned  the  court  to  see  the  elephant  swim  the 
river,  and  since  drunkenness  was  regarded  as  a  gentlemanly 
indulgence  among  the  members  of  the  bar.  And  times  have 
changed  since  genius  drank  beer  and  smoked  pipes  in  cellars  and 
attics  and  made  impecuniosity  a  cardinal  virtue.  The  newspaper 
man  of  to-day  is  as  well  trained  and  as  well  educated  as  his 
professional  contemporary  in  the  pulpit  or  at  the  bar.  He  is  no 
longer  a  Bohemian  ;  he  is  one  of  the  hardest  of  the  world's 
workers,  and  a  practical  citizen.  Occasionally  he  becomes  a 
plutocrat ;  sometimes  he  is  a  member  of  the  Cabinet,  or  a  minister 


1 1 


to  a  foreign  court ;  he  is  found  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  in  the  Senate ;  he  permeates  all  the  departments  of  literature— 
but,  generally,  and  at  his  best,  he  is  the  ever-busy,  ever-thoughtful, 
ever-anxious  factor  of  news-collecting  and  news-editing — the  historian 
of  his  times — the  educator  of  his  generation,  and  a  right  good 
fellow,  who  has  his  share  of  the  virtues  and  the  frailties  of 
humanity.  Times,  too,  have  changed  since  the  newspapers  were 
published  in  dingy  buildings  amidst  darkness  and  dust.  Now,  the 
buildings  rise  as  far  toward  Heaven  as  they  can  get,  and  stand  as 
achievements  of  architecture  and  as  wonders  for  the  special  delight 
of  country  subscribers.  This  development  is  confined  to  no 
section  ;  it  is  going  on  everywhere.  The  largest  newspaper  building 
in  America  is  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  the  Pacific  coast 
rivals  the  old  established  papers  of  the  East  in  great  performances 
of  news-gathering.  While  this  country  has  distanced  history  and 
outdone  the  earth  in  its  marvelous  development,  its  newspapers 
have  multiplied  nine  times  more  rapidly  than  its  population,  and 
their  value  has  increased  sixteen  times  faster  than  the  national 
wealth.  Last,  but  not  least,  the  census  gentleman  is  kind  enough 
to  inform  us  that  of  all  the  professions  journalism  is,  on  the  average, 
the  best  paid.  Considering  these  things,  it  is  not  too  much  to  look 
forward  to  the  time  when  the  newspaper  men  shall  have  a  general 
organization  that  will  command  the  attention  and  the  respect  and 
the  serious  consideration  of  the  world. 

The  League  is  young  yet,  and  its  plans  and  purposes  are  only 
partly  understood,  but  even  in  this  stage  of  its  development  it 
has  been  an  influence  for  good,  and  has  given  a  promise  of 
usefulness  that  has  more  than  fulfilled  the  hopes  of  those  who 
were  most  active  in  organizing  it.  The  extension  of  the  League 
to  all  parts  of  newspaperdom  will  necessarily  be  slow,  because 
many  countries  are  without  press  clubs.  But  they  will  come  in 


time.  Those  of  us  who  want  immediate  results  should  look  at 
the  history  of  other  professions.  It  took  the  doctors  a  great 
many  years  to  establish  their  medical  congress.  Bar  associations 
were  the  outgrowth  of  almost  interminable  efforts  and  discussions 
among  the  lawyers.  Pan-church  conferences  are  as  old  as  the 
dogmas  in  theory,  but  they  are  extremely  modern  in  fact.  Science 
debated  and  struggled  a  long  time  before  its  representatives  met 
in  international  councils.  The  Press  League  is  less  than  three 
years  old,  but  its  strength  has  been  splendidly  seen  in  the  growth 
of  press  clubs  and  the  evident  desire  for  better  organization 
among  newspaper  men.  Its  real  work  has  hardly  begun,  and  its 
full  advantages  cannot  be  appreciated  until  it  has  become  truly 
international  in  its  scope  and  membership.  When  that  point  is 
reached  it  will  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  organizations  on  earth. 
It  is  easy  to  smile  at  such  optimism,  but  is  there  any  one  who 
honestly  doubts  that  journalism,  if  it  is  not  now,  is  sure  to  be  the 
greatest  factor,  if  not  the  greatest  force,  o'f  civilization  ?  Every 
day  the  world  is  living  and  moving  more  and  more  in  its  news- 
. papers.  Every  day  the  newspapers  are  more  and  more  absorbing 
the  thought  and  directing  the  activities  of  mankind. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  the  League  represents  all  journalism. 
But  it  would  like  to  represent  it.  It  is  a  candidate  for  that  high 
honor.  It  is  a  move  which  earnest  men  and  women  have  made, 
and  they  desire  to  see  their  work  taken  up  and  advanced  until 
it  reaches  to  all  the  corners  of  the  earth.  It  would  be  a  happy 
satisfaction  to  mention  the  names  of  those  who  have  been  most 
active  in  the  labors  that  have  brought  the  League  to  its  present 
position,  but  all  the  delegates  and  officers  have  cordially  co-operated, 
and  this  is  not  a  directory,  but  a  preface  which  should  have  been 
written  by  a  more  important  person  than  an  ex-vice-president. 

LYNN   R.   MEEKINS. 

BALTIMORE,  MARCH  15x11,  1893. 


"  They  rested  there,  escaped  awhile 

From  cares  that  wear  the  life  away, 
To  eat  the  lotus  of  the  Nile 
And  drink  the  poppies  of  Cathay." 


1*2 


or, 


^ 

of  fruit,  flowers  and  frost ;  of  sleet  and  snow, 
and  summer  softness ;  of  snow-capped  mount- 
ains and  valleys  of  sempiternal  verdure ;  of 
ice-locked  streams  and  sea  bathing  in  mid- 
winter;  of  royal  hospitalities  enjoyed  while 
loitering  on  the  sunny  shore  of  the  Pacific,  and 
literary  enterprise  maintained  at  highest  railway 
speed,  among  the  snowy  crests  of  the  Rockies  ; 
of  never-wearying  charms  of  feminine  sweetness 

f        and  melody,  and  never-ceasing  iterations  of  speech- 
making   men ;     these    and  other  points 
of  close  resemblance  and  startling 
contrast  I  am  called  upon  to 
describe  briefly,   in  a 
narrative    of  • 


'  a  Railroad  Journey from  •  • 
New  York^.San  Francisco 

•%.  •  ^  •  and  k'ctll  I'll  •».  •<«..<». 


.     ...  • 

:  . 


THE  GKANU  CENTRAL  STATION— NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  i. 


NEW  YORK  TO  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

JANUARY   6-13,    1892. 

* 

HERE  was  a  jolly  gathering  of  men  and  women 
connected  with  the  newspaper  craft  in  the  Grand 
Central  Station,  in  New  York  City,  on  the  morning 
of  Wednesday,  January  6th,  1892.  Outside,  the 
streets  were  rapidly  whitening  under  the  first  heavy 
snowfall  of  the  winter,  and  the  sky  was  black  with 
lowering  clouds.  It  was  a  disagreeable  day  for  out- 
door avocations.  But  in  the  passenger  room  of  the 
New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad  on  that  eventful 
morning  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  was  not  a  subject  for  even 
casual  discussion.  As  the  party  arrived,  singly  or  in  couples, 
cordial  greetings  were  exchanged,  while  the  snow  was  brushed 
and  shaken  from  overcoat  and  mantle,  and  all  local  consider- 
ations were  ignored  in  the  enthusiasm  of  joyous  expectancy 
that  illuminates  the  spirits  of  people  starting  from  home  in  the 
quest  of  pleasure.  The  object  of  this  gathering  of  dames  and 
knights  of  quill  and  pencil  was  to  attend  the  first  annual  Conven- 
tion of  the  International  League  of  Press  Clubs,  which  was 
appointed  to  be  held  in  San  Francisco  on  January  i3th.  A  year 
previously  a  similar  excursion,  on  a  smaller  scale,  had  been  made 
by  delegates  from  twenty-three  Press  Clubs  of  the  East  and  the 
West  to  the  City  of  Pittsburgh,  where,  in  the  intervals  of  a  royal 

17 


entertainment,  to  which  the  whole  population  of  that  enterprising 
city  seemed  to  contribute,  there  was  organized  a  League,  framed 
to  comprise  in  its  membership  all  the  Press  Clubs  of  the  world. 
It  was  a  charming  initiation  of  a  beneficent  enterprise,  of  whose 
possible  scope  prediction  would  as  yet  be  futile.  Several  of  those 
who  attended  that  earlier  Convention  were  among  the  present 
party,  but  the  large  feminine  representation  in  the  latter  was  an 
innovation,  growing  naturally  out  of  one  of  the  League's  pet 
theories  concerning  the  intellectual  equality  of  the  sexes.  As  the 
membership  is  open  equally  to  women  of  the  press  as  to  men,  the 
committee  having  charge  of  the  preparations  for  the  San  Francisco 
Convention  authorized  each  delegate  to  invite  his  wife,  or,  in 
default  of  such  incumbrance,  his  best  girl,  to  accompany  him.  The 
advantage  of  this  arrangement  was  manifest  from  the  outset, 
particularly  in  the  case  of  the  married  delegates,  as  it  positively 
insured  the  presence  of  the  better  half  of  each  domestic  establish- 
ment represented,  and  on  an  occasion  of  this  kind  only  the  best 
was  desirable.  The  persons  who  set  out  from  New  York,  and  who 
joined  the  party  on  the  route,  and  the  Press  Clubs  to  which  they 
respectively  were  credited,  were  the  following : 

NEW  YORK   PRESS   CLUB: 

William  Berri,  Chairman,  Brooklyn  Standard- Union ;  Charles  W.  Price,  Electrical 
Review;  W.  R.  Worrall,  Mail  and  Express;  Major  T.  P.  McElrath,  American 
Analyst ;  J.  I.  Charlouis,  The  School  Journal ;  George  F.  Lyon,  Law  Journal ;  Thos. 
H.  Evans,  New  York  representative  Chicago  Tribune  and  San  Francisco  Chronicle ; 
Alfred  E.  Pearsall,  Commercial  Advertiser ;  E.  B.  Phelps,  The  Club ;  Chas.  H. 
George,  New  York  correspondent  Baltimore  American;  Samuel  C.  Austin,  Asso- 
ciated Press ;  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  Sunday  Advertiser ;  W.  N.  Penney,  United  Press. 
Guests— Mrs.  William  Berri,  Mrs.  Chas.  W.  Price,  Mrs.  W.  R.  Worrall,  Mrs.  T.  P. 
McElrath,  Mrs.  J.  I.  Charlouis,  Mrs.  Geo.  F.  Lyon,  Mrs.  Thos.  H.  Evans,  Master 
"Tom"  Evans,  Mr.  W.  C.  K.  Wilde,  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie- Wilde,  Miss  Mattison, 
Miss  Kellogg,  Miss  Cottrell,  Miss  Kate  Field,  Dr.  A.  S.  Hunter  and  wife,  Miss 
Elita  Proctor  Otis,  Mr.  Foster  Coates,  Mr.  M.  H.  Brown,  Mr.  G.  H.  Lowerre, 
Mr.  J.  Seaver  Page,  Mr.  J.  C.  Yager  and  wife,  Mr.  M.  C.  Roach. 

18 


•' 


THE  NEW  YORK  PRESS  CLUB  DELEGATES. 

W.  H.  WORRAI.I.,  W.  N.  PENNKV,  J.  I.  CHARLOUIS,  C.  H.  GEORGE, 

T.  P.  McEi.RATH,  WILLIAM  BERRI,  CHAS.  W.  PRICE, 

GEO.  F.  LVON,  M.  P.  WILDER,  A.  E.  PEARSALL,  T.  H.  EVANS. 


BOSTON  PRESS  CLUB: 

J.  C.   Morse,  J.  S.   Keeler,  W.  C.  Grout,  Herald;    W.  V.  Alexander,    Transcript; 
E.  J.  Carpenter,  Advertiser ;  William  B.   Smart,  Post;   Thos.   F.  Anderson,   Globe. 
Mr.   Anderson,   though  a   member  of  the   Governing   Board   of  the  League,   was 
unfortunately  compelled  to  leave  the  party  at  Chicago. 
Guests — Miss  Maria  Parloa,   Miss  Helen  Chamberlain. 

BUFFALO  PRESS  CLUB: 

Byron  R.   Newton,  News ;    Eugene  J.   Fleury,  Express. 

GERMAN  PRESS  CLUB,  NEW  YORK: 

Dr.  John   Friederich,  Americanische  Schweizer  Zeitung. 

NEW  YORK  WOMANS'  PRESS  CLUB: 

Miss  M.  V.  Lewis.     Miss  Lewis  joined  the  party  in  San  Francisco  and  accompanied 
it  on  the  three  days'  trip  to  Del  Monte  and  San  Jose. 

CHICAGO  GERMAN  PRESS  CLUB  : 

Emil  Hoechster  and  wife. 

CLEVELAND  WOMEN'S  PRESS  CLUB: 

Mrs.   Elroy   M.   Avery. 

GRAND  RAPIDS  PRESS  CLUB: 

E.   B.   Fisher.     W.    B.    Weston,  of    the  Governing  Board,  joined  at  San  Francisco. 

CANTON,  O.,  PRESS  CLUB: 

T.   K.   Albaugh,  Democrat,  and   Mrs.  Judge  Albaugh. 

MILWAUKEE  GERMAN  PRESS  CLUB: 

Julius  Muehle  and  wife. 

BALTIMORE  JOURNALISTS'  CLUB: 

L.    R.    Meekins,  Vice-President,  and  Mrs.    Meekins  ;    John  S.   Stillman,    Baltimore 
American. 

N.   E.   WOMEN'S  PRESS  ASSOCIATION,    BOSTON  : 

Mrs.   Lulu  S.   Upham,   Gazette. 

PACIFIC  WOMEN'S  PRESS  ASSOCIATION,   SAX  FRANCISCO  : 

Miss  A.   E.   Knapp,   Morning  Call ;  Mrs.  E.  T.  Y.    Parkhurst,  California  Magazine. 


PITTSBURGH  PRESS  CLUB: 

President   T.    J.    Keenan,    Jr.,    Press;    Geo.      H.     Welshons.     Times ;    Win.     H. 
Davis,    Commercial  Gazette ;  L.   D.   Bancroft,   Dispatch. 
Guests — Mrs.  Welshons,    Mrs.   Cameron,    Miss  Keenan. 

PHILADELPHIA  PRESS  CLUB  : 

T.   Henry  Martin,  Item,  and  wife. 

READING  PRESS  CLUB: 

John  B.   Dampman,  Herald,  and  wife. 

SYRACUSE  PRESS  CLUB  : 

E.   H.  O'Hara,   Herald;   S.  G.   Lapham,  of  the  Governing  Board,   Courier. 

SOUTHERN  R.   I.   PRESS  CLUB  : 

Irving  Watson,   H.   F.   True. 

ST.   PAUL  PRESS  CLUB  : 

Julius  A.  Schmahl,  News,  joined    at  Chicago  ;  C.    H.   Lineau,  San   Francisco. 

NAT'L  ORG'N  GERMAN-AMERICAN  JOURNALISTS  AND  AUTHORS: 

Arthur  Koenig,   Milwaukee,  joined    at  Chicago  ;    M.   Greenblatt,    San    Francisco. 

ILLINOIS  WOMEN'S  PRESS  ASSOCIATION  : 

Mrs.   Frances  E.   Owens,   Miss  Belle  L.   Gorton,   Miss  Mary  Allen  West. 

TOLEDO  PRESS  CLUB: 

P.   C.   Boyle,   Commercial,  wife  and  daughter;  M.   P.   Murphy,   Bee. 

SAN  FRANCISCO  PRESS  CLUB: 

Hugh  Hume,  T.  T.  Williams,  M.   H.  de  Young,  H.  M.  Tod,   Theo.  F.  Bonnet. 

After  the  hurried  farewells  had  been  uttered,  the  train,  at 
10.30  A.  M.,  drew  out  from  the  depot,  seven  Wagner  palace 
coaches  bearing  a  hundred  persons  with  hearts  full  of  cheerful 
anticipation,  and  leaving  on  the  platform  a  large  group  of  envying 
friends.  The  train,  specially  provided  for  this  excursion,  and  the 
first  of  its  kind  that  ever  crossed  the  continent  from  Atlantic  to 
Pacific,  deserves  detailed  description,  which  will  be  given  at  a  later 
period  in  this  narrative.  Of  the  journey  to  Chicago,  that  being 


an  affair  of  every-day  experience,  little  need  be  said,  except  that  it 
was  one  of  uninterrupted  jollity.  The  view  through  the  windows 
of  the  storm  that  raged  continuously,  and  the  fleeting  glimpses  of 
the  snow-enveloped  landscape,  only  served  to  heighten  the  sense  of 
enjoyment  as  the  luxuriously  appointed  Wagner  palace  cars  were 
whirled  smoothly  and  swiftly  along  the  shores  of  the  Hudson  and 
Mohawk  Rivers.  At  Albany,  Syracuse  and  Buffalo,  guests  and 
delegates  from  local  clubs  and  remoter  points  joined  the  party. 
Canada  was  traversed  in  the  night,  but  the  steadily  increasing  force 
of  the  storm  caused  so  great  a  delay  that  instead  of  reaching 


THE     SPECIAL     WAGNER     TRAIN     CROSSING     THE     NIAGARA     RIVER. 


Chicago  at  9.45  on  Thursday  morning,  as  had  been  expected,  it 
was  after  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  the  train  pulled  up 
at  that  city. 

Chicago  was  found  to  be  particularly  windy  that  day,  and, 
owing  to  the  storm,  it  was  also  in  a  nebulous  condition  that 
effectually  concealed  it  from  view.  A  special  train  was  in  waiting, 
under  charge  of  a  committee  representing  the  Chicago  Press  Club 
and  the  Exposition  management,  with  Major  Moses  P.  Handy  in 
charge,  and  the  newspaper  guests  were  speedily  whisked  to  the 
Exposition  grounds,  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  where  they 


THE  WIVES  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  DELEGATES. 

MRS.  CHAS.  W.  PRICE,  MRS.  WILLIAM  EFKKI, 

MRS.  T.  H.  EVANS,  MRS.  J.  I.  CHARLOUIS,  MRS.  T.  P.  McEi.KATii 

MRS.  G.  F.  LVON,  MRS.  W.  H.  WOKRALL. 


received  a  mass  of  valuable  information,  verbally  and  in  printed 
shape,  regarding  the  majestic  buildings  which  they  were  told  were 
in  progress  of  construction  all  around  them.  But  of  those  building 
operations  hardly  anything  could  be  seen — rain,  snow,  sleet  and 
smoke  effectually  covering  them — to  the  manifest  chagrin  of  the 
local  committee,  who  were  indefatigable  in  their  efforts  to  make 
amends  for  the  shortcomings,  or  overdoings,  of  the  elements.  The 
unavoidable  delay  the  travelers  had  experienced  was  disappoint- 
ing, not  only  on  account  of  curtailing  the  projected  visit  to  the 
city,  but  by  its  interference  with  the  arrangements  that  had  been 
made  for  the  party's  entertainment  by  the  committee.  However, 
the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  make  the  best  of  the  situation  and  to 
see  and  learn  as  much  as  possible  in  the  short  time  allowed  them, 
and,  accordingly,  when  the  tour  of  the  Exposition  grounds  was 
reported  to  have  been  completed,  the  delegates  were  whirled  by 
rail  back  to  Chicago,  and  then  by  carriage  to  the  Herald  Building, 
where  the  editor  and  proprietor,  Col.  Scott,  had  an  elegant 
luncheon  waiting  for  them.  After  this  repast,  the  first,  by  the 
way,  of  a  long  series  of  similar  entertainments,  the  visitors  pro- 
ceeded to  inspect  the  splendid  newspaper  establishment  in  which 
they  had  received  such  a  cordial  welcome,  beginning  with  the 
composing  and  stereotyping  rooms  on  the  sixth  floor,  and  ending 
with  the  press  room  in  the  basement.  The  general  verdict  was 
one  of  unqualified  admiration,  the  building  being,  probably,  as  Col. 
Scott  claimed,  the  most  complete  newspaper  office  in  America, 
and  therefore  in  the  world.  While  still  in  the  composing  room, 
the  proprietor  addressed  a  few  words  of  welcome  to  his  guests,  to 
which  Mr.  Keenan  responded  in  terms  of  appropriate  compliment. 
The  compositors  of  the  office  and  the  guests  were  attentive 
listeners.  It  was  at  this  point  that  the  speech-making  feature  of 
the  journey  received  an  impulse  that  kept  it  in  active  operation 

24 


by  day  and  night  for  the  following  twenty-four  days,  and  across 
fully  eight  thousand  miles  of  American  soil.  Mr.  Keenan  was 
followed  by  Dr.  Bedloe,  of  Philadelphia,  then  recently  returned  on 
leave  from  his  consular  duties  in  Amoy,  China,  Miss  Kate  Field, 
of  Washington,  Mr.  J.  Seaver  Page,  of  New  York,  Mrs.  Frank 
Leslie-Wilde,  Mr.  William  Wilde,  of  London,  England,  and 
Messrs.  Berri,  Evans,  Wilder  and  Pearsall,  of  the  New  York 
Press  Club.  On  parting  with  the  hospitable  host  of  the  Herald 

the  Chicago  Press  Club  was  visited. 
Col.  J.  M.  Bundy  welcomed  the  party, 
expressing  regret  for  the  detention  that 
had  disarranged  the  Club's  plans  for  enter- 
tainment, and  urging  a  repetition  of  the 
visit  under  more  propitious  skies  on  the 
return  Eastward.  The  president  of  the 
club,  Wm.  A.  Taylor,  in  a  few  friendly 
words,  wished  the  delegates  a  safe 
and  pleasant  journey  to  the  Pacific 

slope  and  home  again ;  and  brief  addresses  were  likewise  made 
by  Messrs.  Hall  and  Almy,  of  the  Chicago  Press  Club,  which 
were  replied  to  by  Messrs.  Keenan  and  Foster  Coates.  The  dele- 
gates were  then  invited  to  attend  the  theatres  as  guests  of  the 
Chicago  Press  Club,  which  some  accepted,  others  preferring  to 
while  away  the  evening  at  the  Auditorium,  where  the  annual 
Charity  Ball  was  to  be  held.  At  11.30  the  cars  were  again 
taken.  Mr.  Roach,  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  was 
compelled  to  leave  the  party  at  this  point  in  order  to  return  to 
New  York.  The  circumstance  caused  general  regret,  but  Mr. 
Roach's  mantle  fell  gracefully  upon  the  shoulders  of  General 
Western  Passenger  Agent  W.  B.  Jerome,  of  the  same  company, 
who  joined  the  party  at  Chicago  and  remained  with  it  in  charge 


THE    AUDITORIUM — CHICAGO. 


of  all  railroad  arrangements  until  the  train  reached  Detroit  on 
its  return,  twenty-three  days  later. 

Friday  morning  found  us  speeding  merrily  along  on  the 
Chicago  &  North  Western  Railroad.  The  sky  was  grey  and  the 
sunshine  had  a  chilled  look,  especially  after  one  of  the  train  hands 
had  passed  through  the  cars  with  the  information  that  the  mercury 
registered  ten  degrees  below  zero.  We  were  now  doing  some 
fast  traveling.  The  run  of  503  miles  from  Chicago  to  Omaha 
was  made  in  thirty-five  minutes  less  than  the  schedule  time  arranged 
for  our  special  train,  and  was  one  of  the  very  fastest  ever  made  on 
that  road.  The  country  was  a  level  treeless  prairie  and  elicited 
great  admiration  from  the  tenderfeet  of  the  excursion  who  had 
never  been  consciously  before  on  a  genuine  prairie.  The  educa- 
tional feature  of  the  journey  was  thus  entered  upon  at  the  rate 
of  between  thirty  and  forty  miles  an  hour.  The  forenoon  was 
passed  by  the  ladies  in  the  inter- 
change of  various  social  and  sociable 
attentions,  while  the  men  for  the 
most  part  devoted  themselves  to 
exploring  and  testing  the  varied  re- 
sources of  the  buffet  car.  At  2  i'.  M., 
after  crossing  the  Missouri  at  Council 
Bluffs,  the  train  pulled  up  at  Omaha, 
where  a  joint  committee  of  the 
Omaha  Board  of  Trade  and  the 
Press  Club  were  in  waiting  at  the 
depot  with  carriages,  and  a  few  min- 
utes later,  after  escaping  from  a 

photographer's  hands,  the  delegates  were  standing  in  the  spacious 
court  of  the  Omaha  Bee  office,  listening  to  cheering  words  of  wel- 
come from  the  enterprising  owner  of  the  establishment,  Col.  Edward 

26 


B •• 

lfMJIJ^ 

Mflf^ffifei 


THK    OMA1I 


Rosevvater.  The  building  in  which  we  were  entertained  is  claimed 
to  cover  more  square  feet  of  surface  than  any  other  newspaper 
edifice  in  the  world,  and  it  certainly  is  a  splendid  as  well  as  a 
spacious  establishment.  It  is  built  of  granite,  and  is  eight  stories 
high,  enclosing  a  large  square  court  covered  over  with  glass,  thus 
insuring  light  to  every  apartment.  From  its  lofty  roof  an  extended 
view  was  obtained  of  the  city,  which  impressed  all  who  inspected  it 
from  that  point  as  being  the  home  of  a  remarkably  enterprising  and 
energetic  people.  Broad,  well  paved  streets  were  lined  with  rows  of 
magnificent  structures,  and  traversed  in  all  directions  with  cable  and 
electric  railroads.  On  every  side  were  bustle  and  business  activity. 
The  welcoming  addresses  having  been  appropriately  responded  to  by 
the  travelers,  the  entire  party  were  rapidly  raised  by  elevator  to 
the  Press  Club  rooms  on  the  upper  floor  of  the  building,  where  an 
hour  was  charmingly  spent  in  conversation.  A  tidy  lunch  was  served, 
to  which  ample  justice  was  done,  and  the  punch  that  washed  it  down 
is  still  fondly  talked  of  by  the  New  York  delegates.  At  four  o'clock 
we  re-embarked  and  were  under  way  again  towards  the  Pacific.  That 
evening  on  the  train  was  marked  by  one  of  the  characteristic  incidents 
of  the  trip,  a  feature  that  probably  had  never  before  had  its  counter- 
part. After  dinner  Mr.  J.  C.  Yager,  of  the  Wagner  Company,  had 
the  waiters  remove  all  the  tables  from  the  dining  car  and  replace  them 
with  camp  chairs,  produced  from  some  place  of  storage  whose  location 
was  one  of  the  many  permanent  mysteries  of  the  journey.  Everybody 
thereupon  repaired  to  that  car  and  spent  the  evening  in  a  most  enjoy- 
able manner,  listening  to  addresses  and  recitations  by  Mr.  J.  Seaver 
Page,  Foster  Coates,  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  Mr.  Willie  Wilde,  and  to 
some  excellent  vocalization,  of  which  our  musical  leader,  Pearsall, 
with  the  stentorian  lungs,  was  the  manager  and  conductor. 

What    the    visiting   party    did    not    learn    concerning    the    City 
of    Denver,    the    Queen    City    of    the     Plains,    is    not    likely    to    be 

27 


acquired  by  newspaper  writers  of  the  present  generation.  By  the 
admirable  arrangements  of  the  Committee  of  Reception  an 
opportunity  was  afforded  the  Eastern  travelers  to  do  up  that  city 
in  exhaustive  style,  or  as  nearly  so  as  was  practicable  within  the 
compass  of  a  single  day  and  evening.  The  train  arrived  at  the 
Denver  depot  at  10.35  A.  M.  on  Saturday,  January  gth,  and  the 
excursionists  were  welcomed  by  representatives  of  the  local 
newspapers,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Real  Estate  Exchange, 
and  the  railroad  companies  that  center  at  that  important  city. 
The  strong  bond  of  interest  existing  between  the  manipulators  of 
rates  and  traffics,  pools,  and  short  and  long  hauls,  was  shown  by 
the  warm  interest  taken  in  the  excursionists  by  the  railroad  men. 
Among  those  who  greeted  the  newcomers  were  General  Ticket 
Agent  Ady,  of  the  Union  Pacific ;  S.  K.  Hooper,  General 
Passenger  Agent  of  the  Rio  Grande ;  Assistant  Passenger  Agent 
Wadleigh,  of  the  same  line ;  C.  G.  Burkhardt,  of  the  North- 
western ;  City  Passenger  Agent  Erbb,  of  the  Union  Pacific  ; 
Commodore  Trufant,  Superintendent  of  the  Union  Depot ;  J.  P. 
Flynn,  C.  H.  Titus,  Editor  Arkins  and  others.  Members  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  Denver  Real  Estate  Exchange 
were:  S.  M.  Allen,  Biddle  Reeves,  R.  E.  Gurley,  B.  L.  Sholtz, 
John  Crawford  and  L.  M.  Townsend,  of  the  Interior  Land  and 
Improvement  Company,  an  old  newspaper  man  of  New  York. 
The  Reception  Committee  had  everything  arranged  on  a  broad 
scale  for  the  visitors'  entertainment.  Carriages  in  abundance  were 
in  waiting  at  the  depot  and  the  guests  were  driven  rapidly  to  the 
elegant  Metropole  Hotel.  Two  or  three  hours  were  given  to  the 
ladies  to  rest  in  the  sumptuous  apartments  of  that  establishment, 
while  their  male  escorts  visited  the  newspaper  offices  and  took 
in  the  sights  generally,  after  which,  fortified  with  a  hearty  lunch, 
the  carriages  were  resumed  and  the  procession  wound  its  way 

28 


THE  HOTEL  METROPOLE — DENVER. 


through  the  long,  level,  unpaved,  but  smooth,  well  shaded  and 
watered  streets  of  Denver,  and  past  all  the  noteworthy  buildings, 
public  and  private,  of  that  wonderful  city,  located  in  1858  as  a 

mining  camp  in  a  desolate  prairie 
region  just  this  side  of  the  shadows 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  loom 
up  about  fourteen  miles  to  the  West- 
ward. Some  of  the  enormous  smelting 
works  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  were 
also  visited,  and  an  insight  was  gained 
of  the  subtle  processes  by  which  rough 
ores  are  transmuted  into  precious  metals. 
Dinner  followed,  after  which  the  entire 
party  visited  the  two  theatres  then  in 
operation  in  the  city,  one  at  the 
Metropole  Hotel  and  the  other  the 
splendid  Tabor  Grand  Opera  House, 

and  at  the  termination  of  the  performances  they  were  transported 
back  to  their  train,  and  at  i  A.  M.  were  again  speeding  Westward, 
now  on  the  tracks  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railroad. 

Leaving  Denver  about  i  A.  M.,  the  train  three  hours  later 
reached  Colorado  Springs,  where,  however,  it  stopped  for  only  a 
few  moments.  It  had  been  the  expectation  of  the  Pike's  Peak 
Press  Club  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  that  the  visitors 
would  be  permitted  to  remain  there  for  a  short  time  to  be  shown 
the  sights  of  the  locality,  but  the  delay  could  not  be  afforded. 
However,  copies  of  the  morning  papers  were  left  on  the  train, 
and  before  the  breakfast  hour  was  over  all  the  passengers  were 
aware  that  they  had  passed  through  "  the  Sanitarium  City  of  the 
West."  A  similar  fact  was  impressed  upon  their  minds  at  several 
other  places  they  visited  during  the  trip. 


The  ride  from  Denver  was  refreshing  to  exhausted  humanity. 
Sight-seeing  was  already  beginning  to  pall  upon  the  senses.  When 
the  party  awoke  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  January  loth,  they 
found  themselves  plunging  into  the  very  heart  of  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains. At  seven  o'clock  they  were  all  routed  out  from  their 
comfortable  berths  to  inspect  the  wonderful  pathway  nature  had 
riven  through  the  rocky  barrier  that  forms  the  continent's  back- 
bone, the  Grand  Canyon  of  the  Arkansas,  better  known  to  tourists 
as  the  "Royal  Gorge."  Here,  between  majestic  walls  two 
thousand  feet  in  height,  wonderful  engineering  skill  had  contrived 
a  roadway  that  seemed  to  be  carved  for  the  special  purpose  through 
the  solid  rock.  Gaxing  upwards  to  the  opening  in  the  rift,  far 
overhead,  that  seemed  to  touch  the  heavens,  one  felt  like 
exclaiming  with  the  Psalmist:  "Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates; 
and  be  ye  lifted  up,  ye  everlasting  doors ;  and  the  King  of  glory 
shall  come  in."  At  a  point  where  the  Arkansas  River  is  spanned 
by  a  bridge  suspended  by  iron  braces  from  the  overhanging  cliffs 
on  either  side,  the  train  was  halted,  and  the  passengers  were 
invited  to  step  out  into  the  freezing  cold  to  be  photographed 
by  an  artist  whom  Passenger  Agent  Jerome  had  enticed  for  that 
purpose  from  Denver.  Their  pictures  being  instantly  frozen  fast 
to  the  negative,  the  party  held  a  brief  Service  of  Song,  under 
the  leadership  of  Mr.  Alfred  E.  Pearsall,  of  the  New  York 
Press  Club,  "  Our  Own,"  as  he  is  familiarly  known  by  his  associates 
in  that  organization,  who,  climbing  to  a  giddy  height  on  the  rocky 
wall  of  the  canyon,  sang  with  power  and  sweetness  "  America,"  in 
which  he  was  joined  with  vigorous  earnestness  by  the  entire 
party.  Probably  that  was  the  first  Sabbath  service  ever  held  in 
that  remote  and  hardly  accessible  chasm.  Under  way  again,  the 
train  labored  up  a  steep  grade,  seeking  the  crest  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  It  found  it,  too,  for  at  three  in  the  afternoon 

30 


THE     1'RESS    CLUB     TARTY     STOIM'INC     To     HE     i'HOTOGK  AP!IK1>     IN     THE    CANYON     OF     THE     ARKANSAS,     SUNDAY,     JANUARY     IOTH. 


Leadville  was  reached,  at  an  elevation  of  ten  thousand,  two 
hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  a  fact  which  speedily 
made  itself  apparent  to  lungs  with  weak  pumping  power  attach- 
ments. The  visitors  having  heard  much  of  that  famous  mining 
camp  were  deeply  interested  in  such  portion  of  it  as  was  not 
hidden  from  their  view  by  the  deep  snow.  Several  of  the  towns- 
people being  at  the  depot  with  sleighs,  an  impromptu  invitation 
was  extended  to  the  visitors  to  take  a  short  ride,  which  was  par- 
ticipated in  with  hilarious  satisfaction.  After  leaving  Leadville  and 


' 


GI.ENWOOI)    STRINGS,    Col.".,    WHERE    THE    PRESS    LEAGUE    PARTY    BATHED    IN    A    SNOW    STORM, 

JANUARY    IOTII,    1892. 


surmounting  the  Rocky  Mountains  at  Tennessee  Pass,  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  ten  thousand,  four  hundred  and  eighteen  feet,  the  train 
resumed  its  rapid  pace  on  the  down  grade,  and  the  run  that 
afternoon  through  the  sublime  canyon  of  the  Grand  River  was  a 
most  enjoyable  experience.  Shortly  after  dark  the  train  stopped  at 


TIIK    CANYON     OF    TIIK    GRAND,     COLORADO. 


Glenvvood  Springs.  A  blinding  snowstorm  prevailed,  through 
which  the  party  was  conveyed  in  sleighs  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
to  a  luxurious  hotel,  resplendent  with  electric  lights,  and  furnished 
in  the  most  approved  style  of  modern  artistic  decoration.  Here 
was  enjoyed  one  of  the  most  remarkable  experiences  of  the 
entire  journey.  The  hotel  stands  on  the  edge  of  a  pool  of 
steaming  hot  water  supplied  from  a  mineral  spring  whose 
temperature  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  degrees,  and  its  outpour 
two  thousand  gallons  per  minute.  In  the  bathing  pool  at  the 
house  the  temperature  of  the  water  is  considerably  reduced,  and 
the  gentlemen  of  the  party,  donning  bathing  suits,  plunged  in 
for  a  warm  out-of-door  bath,  while  the  ladies  on  an  upper 
balcony,  protected  by  umbrellas  from  the  storm,  threw  snow-balls 
at  the  bathers.  It  really  was  a  very  remarkable  sight.  The  night 
was  inky  dark,  the  snow  was  falling  almost  in  a  single  sheet, 
and  the  electric  lights  barely  penetrated  the  misty  atmosphere  to 
reveal  the  heads  of  the  men  swimming  in  the  steaming  pool. 
Every  now  and  then  the  snow  and  cold  air  combined  would 
induce  the  bathers  to  wholly  submerge  themselves,  but  their  heads 
would  quickly  reappear  and  in  a  moment  would  be  again  incrusted 
with  snow.  The  proprietor  of  the  establishment  and  the  physician 
resident  there  had  given  full  assurances  that  bathing  under  those 
incongruous  conditions  was  entirely  harmless.  The  water  was 
strongly  impregnated  with  salt  and  sulphur,  and  open  air  bathing 
is  practiced  there  at  all  times  of  the  day  and  in  all  seasons  of 
the  year.  The  participants  in  the  bath,  after  resuming  their 
traveling  attire,  found  the  effect  to  be  rather  exhilarating  than 
otherwise,  and  none  of  them  derived  any  ill  consequence  from 
what  would  in  any  other  place  in  the  world  seem  to  be  a  reckless 
defiance  of  hygiene  and  common  sense.  An  hour  and  a  half 
were  most  agreeably  passed  in  visiting  this  remarkable  point  and 

34 


exploring,  in  spite  of  the  darkness  and  storm,  the  medicina 
springs  with  which  it  is  surrounded.  Returning  to  the  train  the 
berths  were  sought  at  an  early  hour,  excepting  by  a  few  of  the 
more  devoutly  inclined,  who  sat  up  a  while  longer  singing  hymns. 
Thus  was  passed  the  first  Sunday  of  the  journey.  Glenwood,  we 
learned  from  our  railroad  companions,  is  situated  in  a  "  park " 
two  thousand,  two  hundred  feet  above  the  sea-level,  protected  on 
every  side  by  lofty  mountains,  and  holding  within  its  limits  a 
series  of  hot  sulphur  springs  bursting  out  of  the  mountain  rocks 
forming  lakes  of  large  proportions,  and  making  natural  bathing 
places  which  by  artificial  means  have  been  rendered  very  con- 
venient for  the  use  of  man.  This  hot  sulphur  water,  used  as  a  drink 
or  to  bathe  in,  has  been  found  very  efficacious  as  a  remedy  in  many 
diseases,  and  the  volume  of  water  is  so  great  that  there  seems  to 
be  no  limit  to  the  extent  to  which  it  may  be  utilized,  or  to  the  number 
of  people  who  may  partake  of  or  be  benefited  by  it.  Above  the 
springs,  as  they  rush  out  of  the  rocks,  are  large  open  caves  which, 
somewhere  within^  their  recesses,  must  have  communication  with 
the  hot  sulphur  water  below,  as  they  are  filled  with  hot 
sulphurous  vapor  or  steam,  which  rushes  out  from  their  mouths 
in  dense  clouds.  One  may  enter  these  caves,  divest  one's  self  of 
clothing,  penetrate  as  far  as  the  heat  will  allow,  and  partake 
of  a  natural  hot  sulphur  vapor  bath  such  as  can  be  had  nowhere 
else  in  the  world,  and  which  is  claimed  to  be  of  great  remedial  or 
curative  value  for  many  complaints  that  the  human  frame  is 
afflicted  with.  The  Press  League  excursionists  did  not  penetrate 
the  mysteries  of  the  locality,  further  than  the  pools  at  the  hotel. 
The  region  is  said  to  be  full  of  game,  and  the  trout  fishing 
superb,  so  every  delegate  in  the  party  determined  in  his  mind 
to  wander  out  that  way  again,  some  time,  at  a  more  genial 
season  of  the  year. 

35 


On  Monday  morning,  January  iith,  Salt  Lake  was  reached 
at  eleven  o'clock.  A  delegation  of  officials,  citizens  and  news- 
paper men  from  Salt  Lake  City  met  the  party  at  Bingham 
Junction  in  a  special  train,  under  the  charge  of  J.  H.  Bennett, 
General  Passenger  Agent  of  the  Rio  Grande  &  Western  Railroad. 
Some  time  previous  to  the  advent  of  these  hospitable  gentlemen 
there  had  been  placed  on  the  train,  at  a  point  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  east  of  Salt  Lake  City,  copies  of  the  Salt  Lake 
City  Herald  of  that  date,  and  cards  of  welcome,  on  which  was 
recited  the  programme  of  the  entertainment  prepared  for  the 
passengers  during  their  visit  in  the  City  of  Saints.  On  arriving 
at  the  depot  the  visitors  were  taken  in  carriages  and  stages  and 
many  in  sleighs,  as  the  snow  was  quite  deep  and  still  falling,  and 
were  driven  to  the  Knutsford  Hotel,  where  a  brief  interval  was 
allowed  them  for  resting  in  some  of  the  three  hundred  rooms 
which  this  fine  hotel  contains.  The  party  was  increased  at  this 
point  by  the  addition  to  its  numbers  of  Mrs.  Young,  a  very 
lively,  Boston-looking  young  lady, 
who  enjoyed  the  double  honor 
of  being  the  grand-daughter  of 
Brigham  Young,  deceased,  and  the 
divorced  wife  of  one  of  that 
gentleman's  sons.  After  the  dust 
of  travel  had  been  removed,  the 
visitors  were  taken  in  carriages 
throughout  the  city  and  were 
shown  all  the  attractions  of  the 
place,  alighting  only  to  visit 
the  Temple  and  the  Tabernacle. 

Owing  to  the    incomplete  condition  of  the  former,   it  was  not  con- 
sidered    safe      to     enter     it     on     the      slippery      planks      that     led 


UIIKKK    \VK    WKRK    ENTERTAINED    IN 
SALT    LAKE  CITY. 


SOME    OK    THE    BUILDINGS    AND    LOCALITIES    VISITED    AND    SEEN    IN    SALT    LAKE    CITY. 


from  the  sidewalks.  This  building  is,  next  to  the  magnificent 
St.  Patrick's  Cathedral  in  New  York,  the  grandest  and  most  costly 
ecclesiastical  structure  in  the  United  States.  Begun  in  1853,  it 
was  said  to  have  cost  nearly  seven  million  dollars  when,  on  April 
6th,  1892,  the  last  stone  was  laid,  on  the  thirty-ninth  anniversary 
of  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone.  The  edifice  is  two  hundred 
feet  long,  a  hundred  feet  wide  and  a  hundred  feet  high,  with  four 
towers,  one  at  each  corner,  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  height. 
But  figures  give  only  an  imperfect  suggestion  of  its  great  size. 
The  walls  are  ten  feet  thick,  and  the  massiveness  and  solidity  of 
its  construction  insure  its  defiance  of  the  ravages  of  time  for  ages 
to  come.  It  is  built  wholly  of  snow-white  granite,  and,  standing 
on  one  of  the  loftiest  points  in  the  city,  it  can  be  seen  for  many 
miles  up  and  down  the  valley.  The  Temple  is  not  intended  to 
be  a  house  of  worship,  but  will  be  used  wholly  for  conducting  the 
ceremonial  rites  of  the  Mormon  priesthood.  The  Tabernacle  in 
the  same  square  is  one  of  the  architectural  curiosities  of  the  world. 
It  looks  like  a  vast  terrapin-back  or  half  of  a  prodigious  egg-shell 
cut  in  two  lengthwise,  and  is  built  wholly  of  glass,  iron  and 
stone.  It  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  a  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  wide  and  a  hundred  feet  high  in  the  center  of  the  roof,  which 
is  a  single  mighty  arch,  unsupported  by  pillar  or  post,  and  is  said 
to  have  but  one  counterpart  on  the  globe.  The  walls  are  twelve 
feet  thick,  and  there  are  twenty  huge  double  doors  for  entrance 
and  exit.  In  the  same  enclosure  is  still  another  spacious  struc- 
ture, in  which,  we  were  informed,  were  held  the  regular  church 
services  of  the  Mormons.  It  is  called  Assembly  Hall,  is  of  white 
granite,  of  Gothic  architecture  and  has  seats  for  twenty-five 
hundred.  The  ceiling  is  elaborately  frescoed  with  scenes  from 
Mormon  history,  including  the  delivery  of  the  golden  plates, 
containing  the  New  Revelation,  to  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  by 

38 


the  Angel  Moroni.  The  Hall  contains  a  superb  organ  of  native 
woods  and  home  workmanship.  The  visitors  received  these  facts 
on  faith,  as  they  did  not  enter  the  Hall.  But  the  peculiar 
architectural  features  of  the  Tabernacle  were  thoroughly  exploited, 
including  the  verification  of  that  enormous  structure's  acoustic 
properties.  The  seating  capacity  of  the  building  is  said  to  be  four- 
teen thousand.  The  visitors  being  stationed  at  the  end  furthest 
from  the  raised  platform  where  the  vast  organ  stands,  one  of  the 


ASSEMBLY   HALL,    THK   TABERNACLK   AND   THE   NEW   MORMON   TEMPLE   IN    SALT    LAKE  CITY. 


local  committee,  enjoining  silence,  dropped  a  common  pin  from  his 
hand  on  a  board  where  he  was  standing.  The  sound  of  that  tiny 
piece  of  metal  striking  the  board  was  distinctly  heard  by  every 
person  at  the  distant  end  of  the  apartment.  Similar  experiments 
were  made  by  whispering  across  the  room,  the  voice  being  in  like 
manner  as  distinctly  audible  as  is  the  case  in  the  world  renowned 
Whispering  Gallery  of  St.  Paul's  Church  in  London.  Leaving 
that  interesting  place,  the  guests  were  driven  past  the  Tithing 

39 


House,  the  Beehive  House  and  the  Lion  House,  half  hidden  by 
the  high  surrounding  wall,  the  residence  of  the  late  Brigham 
Young,  and  the  residences  of  eighteen  of  his  numerous  wives ; 
experience  evidently  having  shown  him  that  domestic  felicity,  when 
essayed  in  such  off-hand  fashion,  could  only  be  approximately 
achieved  by  keeping  his  spouses  in  separate  residences.  The 
ladies  of  the  party  manifested  a  decided  interest  in  the  evidences 
of  the  peculiar  institution  which  has  given  Mormondom  its 
notoriety,  but  they  were  wise  enough  to  use  great  discretion  in 
the  inquiries  they  made  of  the  gentlemen  who  acted  as  escorts  on 
the  occasion.  On  one  point  the  entire  party  were  unanimously 
agreed,  and  that  was  in  admiration  of  the  beauty  of  Salt  Lake 
City,  its  wide  streets  and  its  picturesque  location  in  the  mountain- 
framed  valley.  The  season  of  the  year,  however,  was  not  pro- 
pitious to  seeing  Salt  Lake  City  at  its  greatest  advantage,  and 
the  guests  were  repeatedly  invited  to  come  again  later  in  the  year, 
when,  it  was  said,  the  whole  city  would  bear  the  appearance  of  a 
luxuriant  flower  garden.  The  place  is  rapidly  being  transferred 
into  Gentile  hands,  from  those  of  the  Mormons,  who  founded  it 
under  Brigham  Young  in  the  summer  of  1847.  As  is  fitting  to 
a  city  built  in  a  vast  wilderness,  it  was  laid  out  on  a  scale  of 
majestic  proportions,  the  streets  being  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
feet  in  width  and  the  blocks  comprising  each  ten  square  acres,  the 
distance  from  street  to  street  being  everywhere  just  six  hundred 
and  sixty-six  and  two-thirds  feet.  On  each  side  of  every  thorough- 
fare is  a  wide  ditch  of  running  water  from  the  mountains — the 
irrigating  system,  that  at  great  cost  of  labor  and  money  converted 
the  arid  waste  on  which  the  Saints  planted  their  settlement  into 
a  latter  day  Paradise.  Every  house  seems  to  be  surrounded  by 
a  lawn  and  garden  or  orchard.  But  if  the  beauty  of  the  city, 
its  possibility,  in  fact,  was  due  to  Mormon  perseverance  in  the 


past,  its  present  development  is  wholly  owing  to  the  spirit  of 
modern  progress  which  has  actuated  it  under  Gentile  control 
within  the  last  decade.  Since  1880  the  population  has  increased 
from  twenty-one  thousand  to  nearly  fifty-five  thousand  persons, 
whose  wealth  per  capita  is  said  to  be  greater  than  that  of  any 
other  community  in  the  United  States.  Think  of  a  town  on  the 
backbone  of  the  continent  possessing  sixty-five  miles  of  electric 
street  railways ! 

Returning  to  the  hospitable  Knutsford  Hotel,  a  fine  lunch  was 
partaken  of,  after  which  the  visitors  passed  the  time  in  looking 
around  on  their  own  account.  The  newspaper  offices,  the  Tribune 
and  the  Herald,  were  visited  in  force.  Many  of  the  ladies 
repaired  to  their  apartments  to  rest.  Quite  a  number  of  the 
travelers,  however,  accepted  an  invitation  from  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  to  make  a  trip  in  a  special  train  to  Garfield  Beach  to 
get  a  near-by  view  of  Salt  Lake.  Later  in  the  day  an  excursion 
was  also  made  to  the  recently  discovered  natural  gas  wells  some 
miles  out  of  the  city.  It  was  so  late 'in  the  day  that  it  was  dark 
when  the  wells  were  reached.  The  spectacle,  however,  was  the 
more  brilliant  on  that  account,  the  Gas  Company  having  run  out 
a  line  of  pipe  from  one  of  the  wells,  so  that  there  were  flambeaux 
at  various  points  along  the  path  leading  from  the  cars,  the 
flames  in  some  cases  reaching  to  a  height  of  fully  fifty  feet.  The 
Pittsburgh  visitors  had  an  opportunity  at  this  point  of  displaying 
their  familiarity  with  natural  gas,  and  had  there  been  any  Chicago 
representatives  in  the  party,  they,  too,  might  have  enjoyed  a 
similar  privilege.  It  was  7.45  v.  M.  when  the  excursion  train  of 
six  cars  returned  to  the  city,  and  the  passengers  made  a  bee  line 
from  the  depot  to  the  Tabernacle,  where  a  grand  concert  had 
been  announced  to  be  given  for  their  special  benefit.  The  Choral 
Society  of  Salt  Lake  City  and  the  choir  of  the  Tabernacle, 


numbering  jointly  five  hundred  voices,  officiated  under  the  direction 
of  Conductor  Stephens.  Prof.  Radcliffe  performed  on  the  magnifi- 
cent organ,  said  to  have  cost  $100,000  and  to  be  the  second 
largest  in  the  world.  It  is  fifty-eight  feet  high  and  contains  two 
thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-eight  pipes.  A  delightful 
programme  was  performed  by  the  monster  combination  of  local 
talent,  and  the  visitors  likewise  took  a  hand  in  the  entertainment 
by  pressing  Mr.  Pearsall  into  giving  one  of  his  excellent 
recitations,  which  was  followed  by  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  who 
amused  the  audience  with  a  series  of  droll  anecdotes.  This 
circumstance  is  the  more  significant  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
first  time  that  the  Tabernacle  had  been  lent  to  such  purely 
secular  uses  as  those  represented  by  the  two  gentlemen  from 
New  York,  and  it  was  understood  afterward  that  we  had  just 
anticipated  the  date  when,  by  an  edict  of  the  rulers  of  the 
church,  the  edifice  could  never  again  be  similarly  used. 

Messrs.  Wilder  and  Pearsall  were  accordingly  congratulated 
upon  being  personally  concerned  in  an  epoch  in  the  ecclesiastical 
history  of  Mormondom.  The  whole  affair  was  exceedingly  enjoy- 
able, outside  of  its  qualified  historic  significance.  Returning  to  the 
hotel,  after  an  agreeable  collation,  a  brilliant  reception  was  given 
to  the  visitors,  which  was  participated  in  by  most  of  the  promi- 
nent citizens — Gentile  and  Mormon — of  the  place.  The  guests 
were  gathered  in  a  spacious  dining  hall  of  the  hotel,  and  Judge 
O.  W.  Powers,  of  Illinois,  who  occupied  the  chair  for  the  even- 
ing, delivered  a  charming  welcoming  address.  He  was  followed 
by  Gov.  Thomas,  after  whom  followed  brief  and  telling  addresses 
by  the  President  of  the  League,  Mr.  T.  J.  Keenan ;  Judge 
Goodwin,  in  behalf  of  the  "Rocky  Mountain  Press";  Kate  Field, 
in  behalf  of  "  Woman  as  a  Business  Man  ";  the  Hon.  George  Q. 
Cannon,  the  distinguished  Mormon  leader,  who,  as  a  pioneer 

42 


printer,  spoke  for  the  "Hand-Cart  Brigade";  Mr.  Keeler,  of 
Boston,  in  response  to  the  toast,  "The  Salt  Lake  of  the  East"; 
the  Hon.  W.  H.  King,  for  "One  of  Utah's  Best  Crops"; 

Ex-Gov.  West,  as  speeding 
the  departing  guests;  Mr. 
Coates,  of  New  York,  on 
behalf  of  Press  Clubs  gen- 
erally, and  Fred.  Simon,  on 
behalf  of  Utah  in  the  con- 


Miss  KATK  FIELD,    OF  WASHINGTON,   I).    C. 

crete    and    abstract.       In  addition  to 

the    speeches    of  the    evening,    some 

charming   vocalism   was  rendered  by 

Miss    Lillie    Snyder;     Mrs.    Frank 

Leslie  repeated    a    stirring  poem   on 

the  onward  progress  of  "Columbus"; 

a  recitation  was  given   by   Miss   Elita    Proctor  Otis,  of  New  York, 

and  a  series  of  laughable   stories    were  told  by  Marshall  P.  Wilder, 

who,  with  the  recollection    still    strong   on  him   of    his  performance 


MRS.    FRANK    I.KSI.IK. 


43 


at  the  Temple,  was  in  cheerful  vein,  and  was  repeatedly  recalled  to 
the  front.  The  evening  passed  quickly  in  that  delightful  manner, 
and  it  was  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  the  party  again  found 
themselves  on  their  train,  speeding  yet  further  westward  towards 
the  Pacific. 

Brief  glimpses  were  obtained  at  intervals  of  the  Great  Salt 
Lake  as  the  train  swept  along  its  southern  shore,  and  at  3  A.  M. 
on  January  i2th  our  hospitable  hosts  of  the  Rio  Grande  & 
Western  Railroad  were  bidden  a  reluctant  farewell  as  we  were 
switched  on  to  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  in  whose  charge  we 
were  to  remain  for  the  following  twelve  days.  The  entire  day 
was  passed  in  overcoming  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  and  when  evening 
arrived  and  we  were  being  whirled  through  the  canyons  and  the 
snow-sheds  of  that  majestic  range  of  mountains,  the  whole  party 
were  assembled  in  the  dining  car  to  listen  to  the  reading  of  a 
"  newspaper,"  the  several  contributions  to  which  were  prepared 
during  the  day  by  some  of  the  more  enterprising  of  the  delegates, 
under  the  editorial  supervision  of  Mr.  Foster  Coates.  It  was  the 
first  evening  paper  ever  brought  out  in  that  section  of  the  conti- 
nent, and  probably  nowhere  else  on  the  continent  has  a  new 
journalistic  enterprise  ever  made  such  rapid  headway.  The  next 
morning  found  us  in  Auburn,  California. 


CHAPTER  II. 


CONVENTION  DAYS. 

JANUARY  13-20,  1892. 

T*     AUBURN     we     were     suddenly     introduced     to 
California,    and    to    say    that    our   introduction    was 
a  revelation  to  the  entire  party  would  be  far  from 
exaggeration.      Placer    County,    in    which    we   now 
were,  is  called  the  "Gateway"  to  the  Golden  State. 
With    the   snowdrifts   in    full    view    around  us  and 
the  Arctic  cold    of  the  Sierra  Nevadas  still  fresh  in  our 
memories,  we   seemed,   on    that  warm,  sunshiny  morning, 
to  have  passed   through    the   gateway   that   leads    directly  from 
perpetual  winter  to  everlasting  summer.      Here,  indeed,  was  the 
complete  realization  of  the  poet's  ideal  Auburn, 

"Where  smiling  spring  its  earliest  visit  paid, 
And  parting  summer's  lingering  blooms   delayed." 

The  train  passing  through  an  immense  arch  of  oranges  and  flowers 
drew  up  at  a  depot  resplendent  with  floral  decorations.  Among 
a  variety  of  devices  the  word  "  Welcome "  greeted  us  above  the 
platform,  framed  with  golden  oranges.  The  decorative  possibilities 
of  the  orange  were  visible  at  nearly  every  house  in  the  place.  A 
committee  of  citizens  was  on  hand  with  carriages,  and  the  party 
was  conveyed  to  two  hotels,  the  Putnam  and  the  Freeman  House, 
where  excellent  breakfasts  were  discussed,  which,  as  we  had  arisen 
from  our  Wagner  couches  at  an  unusually  early  hour,  were 
particularly  welcome.  The  champagne  cocktails  of  native  vintage 


45 


that  were  set  before  us  as  a  preliminary  to  the  meal  might,  under 
such  circumstances,  have  prompted  a  responsive  thrill  in  the  heart 
of  the  most  unmitigated  apostle  of  Prohibition.  But  the  magnificent 
flowers  and  the  decorations  of  fruit  with  which  the  tables  and 
apartments  overflowed,  were,  next  to  the  charming  ladies 
who  gave  the  grace  of  their  presence  to  welcome  us  to 
California,  the  most 
striking  features  of  that 
brilliant  and  memor- 
able morning.  Break- 
fast finished,  and  two 
or  three  short  greet- 
ings having  been  inter- 
changed by  the  orators 
on  both  sides,  to  car- 
riage again,  to  visit  the 
Citrus  Fair  in  "  The 
Pavilion,"  a  newly  erec- 
ted theatre,  where  the 
reality  of  that  land  of 
sun  and  flowers,  in 
which  the  fruit  harvest 
reaches  from  January 
to  December,  was  dis- 
played in  a  manner  none  of  the  visitors  had  ever  dreamed  of. 
Besides  apples,  pears  and  plums,  in  great  abundance  and  variety, 
oranges,  lemons,  grapes,  figs,  dates,  olives,  almonds  and  other  tropical 

fruits  and    products    were    massed    about    the    building   in    tasteful 

%f 
shapes  and  in  vast  quantities,  the  growth  of  that  section  of  Northern 

California   comprising   ten    counties    which    a   few    years    ago    were 
hardly   known    of   as   agriculturally  capable.      Thirty-six  varieties  of 

46 


SACRAMENTO  S   ORANGE  ARCH   AT  AUBURN,    CAL. 


oranges,  and  six  of  lemons,  all  large,  highly  colored  and  well 
rounded  fruit,  constituted  two  only  of  the  host  of  displays  on 
exhibition  there,  that  gladdened  all  the  senses.  Among  the  varied 
devices,  a  conspicuous  one  was  a  monster  horn  of  plenty,  made 
entirely  of  oranges,  and  pouring  from  its  capacious  mouth  a 
stream  of  luscious  fruits,  the  exhibit  of  Sutter  County. 


CORNUCOPIA    OK    ORANGES — SUTTER    COUNTY  S    EXHIBIT    AT    THE    AUBURN    CITRUS    KAIR. 

At  Auburn,  also,  we  discovered  that  we  had  reached  the  longi- 
tude of  comparative  magnitudes,  a  geographical  peculiarity  which  we 
were  not  suffered  to  lose  sight  of  while  we  remained  on  the 
Pacific  slope.  The  precise  relation  of  Placer  County,  California, 
in  respect  to  size,  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  or  to  the  whole 
of  the  eastern  States,  or  to  the  rest  of  the  earth,  has  escaped  the 
writer's  memory,  but  the  proportion  calculator  had  got  us  into 
his  clutches,  and  we  speedily  learned  to  regard  his  fertility  of 

47 


imagination  and  ingenuity  of  combination  with  unspeakable  awe. 
From  the  Pavilion  we  were  driven  to  a  point  near  the  town 
named  Aeolia  Heights,  where  among  trees  and  vineyards,  on  a 
commanding  eminence,  Col.  W.  Hamilton,  of  Sacramento,  has  a 
charming  lodge  fitted  with  exquisite  taste,  and  overlooking  a  vast 
wooded  gorge,  at  the  bottom  of  which  runs  the  American  River. 
It  was  a  landscape  of  unsurpassed  loveliness.  But  we  had  not 
yet  reached  our  destination,  so  at  10.30  A.  M.,  after  brief  speech- 
making  and  cordial  hand-shaking,  we  resumed  our  journey. 
Every  member  of  the  party  will  carry  enduring  recollection  of 
the  reluctance  with  which  we  parted  from  the  sweet,  half-tropical 
vision  that  had  been  presented  to  our  eyes  that  morning  on  our 
entrance  into  California. 

On  reaching  Auburn  our  train  was  increased  by  the  addition 
of  tWo  remarkably  well  stocked  cars  containing  a  delegation 
headed  by  Mr.  M.  H.  de  Young,  and  comprising  President  Hugh 
Hume,  Gen.  John  F.  Sheehan  and  Gen.  John  S.  McComb,  with 
a  large  party  of  lively  volunteers,  sent  to  welcome  us  on  behalf  of 
the  San  Francisco  Press  Club.  From  that  moment  until  we  left 
San  Francisco,  one  week  afterward,  we  were  in  the  hands  of  that 
Club  as  its  guests,  and  never  in  newspaper  history  was  royal 
hospitality  more  lavishly  or  more  gracefully  bestowed.  The 
correctness  of  this  statement  will  develop  as  we  proceed.  Stopping 
for  an  hour  at  Sacramento,  we  were  greeted  with  a  fresh 
surprise,  the  San  Francisco  newspapers  of  that  date,  particularly 
the  Examiner  and  the  Chronicle,  having  prepared  a  welcome  for 
us  in  the  shape  of  special  dispatches  containing  the  latest  news 
from  the  home  of  almost  every  member  of  the  party.  We 
arrived  in  San  Francisco  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  soon 
were  snugly  ensconced  in  the  Baldwin  Hotel,  where  rooms  had 
been  bespoken  for  and  assigned  to  us  in  advance. 

48 


SOME    OF    THE    WOMEN    DELEGATES    AND    GUESTS. 


MRS. 


MRS.  F.  E.  OWENS, 
ELKOY  AVKKV, 
MRS.  LULU  Ui'HAM, 

Miss  BOVLE, 


MRS.  J.  P.  DAMI-MAN, 


MRS.    J.     MUKHLE. 

Miss  BELLE  L.  GORTON, 
Miss  MARY  A.  WEST, 
MRS.  P.  C.  flovLB. 


We  had  reached  the  Pacific  Coast.  At  this  stage  of  the 
narrative  the  pen  involuntarily  pauses  as  memory  recalls  the 
succession  of  incidents  upon  whose  description  it  is  about  to 
enter.  The  series  of  brilliant  entertainments,  such  as  were  never 
before  showered  upon  a  party  of  amazed  visitors ;  the  beautiful 
scenery  which  they  were  invited  to  enjoy,  the  wonders  of  nature 
they  were  confronted  with,  the  steady  jump  at  which  they  were 
kept  moving,  the  palatial  residences  at  which  they  were  welcomed, 
and,  above  and  beyond  all  else,  the  magnificent  friendliness  with 
which  they  were  greeted,  collectively  and  individually,  by  their 
big-hearted  Californian  hosts,  would  require  a  volume  to  adequately 
relate,  and  would  tax  the  powers  of  an  abler  writer  than  the 
present  one  to  competently  describe.  To  each  member  of  the 
party  who  reads  these  pages  there  will  doubtless  recur  many  facts 
and  incidents  that  dwell  fondly  in  his  memory  as  among  the 
most  enjoyable  of  his  experiences  on  the  trip,  but  of  which  he 
will  find  here  no  record.  In  some  respects  a  narrative  like  this 
is  like  men's  lives,  the  checkered  fabric  of  whose  careers  is 
made  up  of  threads  of  personal  encounter,  which  cross  and 
recross  each  other  in  the  weaving,  but  always  preserve  their 
separate  identity.  It  is  the  nearness  together  of  the  points  of 
contact  that  imparts  the  character  to  the  texture.  So  this  short 
story  of  travel  must  necessarily  be  traced  along  the  line  of  the 
writer's  personal  observation  of  incidents  in  which  all  participated, 
but  with  differing  points  of  joint  experience. 

The  first  night  in  San  Francisco  was  variously  employed  by 
the  visiting  party.  The  officers  of  the  League  and  a  few  specially 
invited  persons  were  entertained  at  a  dinner  party  by  Mr.  M. 
H.  de  Young,  proprietor  of  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle,  upon 
whom  had  centered  the  unanimous  determination  of  the  Eastern 
Press  Club  men  and  women  as  their  selection  for  the  next 

5° 


President  of  the  League.  That  they  were  splendidly  entertained 
needs  no  emphasis.  Mr.  de  Young's  residence  is  one  of  the 
many  private  palaces  for  which  San  Francisco  is  famous,  and  as 
the  guests  crossed  the  threshold  they  beheld  a  scene  that  each 
will  long  remember.  The  wide  hall  was  hung  with  tapestries  and 
adorned  with  marble  statuettes  on  richly  ornate  pedestals,  and  with 
decorated  vases  holding  palms  and  fragrant  flowers,  all  glowing  in 
the  soft  light  shed  by  a  myriad  of  gas  jets  gleaming  through  tinted 

shades.  Over  the  doorway  leading  to 
the  banquet  room  hung  a  white  satin 
banner  bearing  in  golden  letters,  these 
words  of  greeting  :  "  With  mystic  key, 
our  glorious  State,  unlocks  for  thee  the 
Golden  Gate."  On  the  right  of  the  arch 
was  a  branch  of  a  giant  redwood,  and 
on  the  other  side  an  orange  bough 
laden  with  golden  fruit,  their  junction 
over  the  arch  being  adorned  with 
chrysanthemums  intermixed  with  ferns 
and  tendrils  of  green  bamboo.  The 
dining-room  was  decorated  with  similar 
elegance,  and  at  each  guest's  plate  lay 
a  card  of  unique  design,  bearing  his 
name  in  golden  letters.  The  soft 
strains  of  a  string  band,  hidden  in 
some  fern-curtained  corner,  made  a 

mellifluous  accompaniment  to  the  clattering  of  knife  and  fork 
and  glass  as  the  party  discussed  the  exquisite  menu  and 
offered  their  libations  in  wines  of  rarest  vintage.  At  the  close 
of  the  repast,  Marshall  P.  Wilder  set  the  fun  in  motion  with 
some  droll  narratives,  which  were  succeeded  by  brief  and  telling 


THE  "CHRONICLE"  OFFICE,  SAN  FRANCISCO. 


addresses  by  Mr.  de  Young,  Mr.  Hume,  President  of  the  San 
Francisco  Press  Club ;  Messrs.  Berri,  Page  and  Coates,  of  New 
York ;  Mayor  Sanderson,  Gen.  Ruger,  U.  S.  A.,  and  Mr.  Hazelton, 
editor  of  the  San  Francisco  Post.  Then  the  guests  were  led  to 
the  unique  apartment  in  the  basement  of  Mr.  de  Young's  house, 
known  as  the  Chinese  Room,  where  they  were  served  with  coffee 
and  cigars.  That  room  was  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  trip.  On 
every  side  were  displayed  rare  specimens  of  cunning  carving,  while 
chairs  and  tables  of  costly  wood  and  quaint  design  stood  around  in 
cozy  attractiveness.  The  walls  were  embellished  with  Chinese  masks 
and  weapons,  and  on  one  side  was  a  hideous  idol,  surmounted 
with  a  dragon,  before  which,  doubtless,  many  generations  of  wor- 
shippers in  China  have  bent  their  knees  in  adoration.  The  hangings 
of  this  strangely  brilliant  saloon,  the  mouldings  and  all  the 
decorations  and  ornaments,  were  from  the  Celestial  Kingdom,  and 
their  effect  upon  the  visitors  was  weirdly  impressive.  There  is  no 
other  similarly  adorned  apartment  in  any  residence  in  the  United 
States.  The  party  broke  up  at  a  late  hour  and  returned  to  the 
hotel,  conversing  in  a  strange  patois  of  mixed  Chinese  and  Heidsick. 
The  young  men  of  the  delegation  were  regaled  that  same  evening 
at  a  "Late  Watch"  at  the  Press  Club,  where  "high  jinks"  and 
"low  jinks,"  and  assorted  provocatives  of  hilarity,  were  enjoyed 
until  the  early  watches  of  the  next  day  had  begun.  The  convivial 
chairman  of  the  Entertainment  Committee,  Mr.  Gagan,  with  his 
ever  courteous  associates,  Messrs.  Lawrence,  Denny  and  Barendt, 
and  the  omnipresent  Hume,  who  had  stolen  away  from  the  de 
Young  banquet  to  join  in  welcoming  the  visitors,  were  indefat- 
igable in  their  fun-inspiring  efforts,  and  even  the  bashful  New 
York  delegates  were  speedily  thawed  out  from  the  icy  reserve  in 
which  they  are  customarily  enveloped.  Mr.  Williams,  of  the  Club, 
tendered  to  the  League  the  freedom  of  the  city,  which  Mayor 

52 


Sanderson  afterward  confirmed,  with  the  further  pledge  that  the 
police  regulations  would  be  suspended  in  San  Francisco  on  their 
behalf  throughout  the  Convention.  It  was  possibly  owing  to  this 
judicious  municipal  prevision  that  the  League  was  enabled  as  an 
entire  body  to  participate  in  the  festivities  of  the  following  week. 
Mr.  Bromley  made  an  amusing  speech,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
conferred  upon  the  guests  whatever  portion  of  the  city  remained 
unbestowed  ;  and  with  songs,  recitations  and  a  variety  of  admirable 
musical  performances,  that  memorable  "  Late  Watch "  was  a  very 
lively  initiation  into  the  ways  of  San  Francisco  journalists. 

Meanwhile,  with  greater  prudence,  the  rest  of  the  party  had 
succumbed  to  the  attractions  of  their  luxurious  apartments  in  "The 
Baldwin,"  and  had  retired  betimes  to  enjoy  the  first  night's  repose 
in  bed  they  had  experienced  since  leaving  home.  These  probably 
were  the  wisest  of  all,  for  no  future  opportunity  for  genuine  all 
night  rest  was  afforded  during  the  entire  journey. 

That  there  should  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  hospitable  intentions 
of  their  hosts,  each  of  the  visitors  received  at  his  apartment  an 
elegant,  vellum-bound  Souvenir  book,  illustrated  and  exquisitely 
printed  on  heavy  cream-laid  paper,  in  which  the  San  Francisco 
Press  Club  outlined  the  programme  for  the  coming  week.  This 
programme,  which  was  accurately  adhered  to,  was  introduced  by  the 
following  words  of  welcome  : 

Welcome,  oh,  delegates  from  the  frozen  East,  from  the  crank- 
crowded  purlieus  of  New  York,  from  the  city  of  the  Lake,  where 
no  man  dare  wear  whiskers,  from  the  fever-haunted  swamps  of 
Indiana,  from  the  blizzard-swept  plains  of  Dakota,  from  the  and 
deserts  of  Utah,  where  the  thermometer  ranges  from  forty-two 
below  to  one  hundred  and  forty  above  in  the  shade,  from  the 
cattle  trails  of  Nebraska,  from  the  pork-laden  plains  of  Ohio, 
from  the  sage-brush  of  Nevada,  where  the  voice  of  the  jack-rabbit 
is  heard  in  the  land  and  the  coyote  is  the  king  of  beasts- 
welcome,  thrice  welcome,  to  California  ! ! ! 

53 


Welcome,  oh,  welcome,  men  of  the  East,  North  and  South, 
and  ten  times  welcome,  ladies  from  the  lands  on  the  thither  side 
of  the  Sierra  Nevadas !  Welcome  to  California,  where  the  noise 
of  the  flowers  growing  in  January  is  like  unto  the  roar  of  an 
avalanche,  and  strawberries  are  in  season  all  the  year  round  ; 
where  the  climate  is  sold  by  the  acre  and  land  by  the  quart ;  and 
where  you  can  wear  a  linen  duster  in  winter  and  a  blanket  in 
summer — if  you  wish  to. 

We  are  here  to  bid  you  welcome.  Come  into  the  hacienda  and 
partake  of  frijoles  ;  tie  your  horses  to  the  corn  bin  and  let  them 
eat ;  throw  your  guns  and  knives  into  the  corner,  for  you  are 
among  friends.  All  that  we  have  is  yours ;  would  that  we  had 

more. 

Welcome,  a  hundred  times  welcome,  oh,  ladies  from  the  lands 
where  the  violet  does  not  bloom  until  the  end  of  spring,  and  the 
only  orange  blossoms  to  be  found  are  on  the  heads  of  the  brides ! 
All  California  bids  you  welcome.  The  tall  redwoods  of  the  forest 
will  bow  to  the  ground  as  you  pass  by,  the  grizzly  bears  and  the 
lions  will  sing  serenades  beneath  your  windows,  and  the  rivers 
will  leave  their  beds  at  a  moment's  notice  to  make  things  pleasant 
for  you.  Welcome,  a  thousand  welcomes,  oh,  delegates  and  friends ! 
The  whole  Pacific  coast  is  waiting  to  do  you  honor.  The  salmon 
has  left  his  home  in  the  mighty  Columbia  to  sit  with  you  at  the 
feast ;  and  his  young  companion,  the  shrimp,  will  be  at  his  side. 
The  juicy  canvas-back,  lovely  of  plumage  and  mighty  of  pinion, 
will  contribute  to  your  happiness;  and  the  effusion  of  the  grape 
from  a  hundred  sun-kissed  Californian  hillsides  shall  flow  in  your 
honor. 

The  country  is  all  yours.  From  the  snow-capped  Shasta  in 
the  North  to  the  tropic  verges  of  Los  Angeles  and  Santa  Barbara ; 
from  the  lava  beds  of  Modoc  to  the  burning  sands  of  Arizona ; 
from  Mount  Whitney  to  Mount  Diablo ;  in  short,  "  from  the 
Siskiyou  to  San  Diego,  from  the  Sierras  to  the  sea,"  you  shall 
roam  where  you  please,  take  what  you  please,  and  do  what  you 
please.  For  this  occasion  the  San  Francisco  Press  Club  owns 
the  earth  and  places  it  at  your  feet. 

Would  you  bathe  in  the  warm  waters  of  Del  Monte ;  speed 
behind  the  fastest  horses  of  Palo  Alto ;  drink  dry  the  breweries 
or  drain  the  mighty  vat  of  Vina — do  so ;  they  are  all  at  your 
service.  The  loveliest  ladies  of  our  land  shall  smile  on  your 

54 


braves,  and  the  bravest  men  kneel  at  the  feet  of  your  fair  ones. 
The  land  is  yours,  and,  in  the  language  of  the  postmaster's  poet, 
"if  you  don't  see  what  you  want,  please  ask  for  it." 

The  roses  are  growing  in  the  vales  for  you,  and  the  early 
asparagus  has  pushed  his  head  through  the  earth  to  peep  at  the 
procession.  We  have  warm  hearts  and  cold  bottles  at  your 
service.  You  have  come  out  of  the  wilderness  into  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  and  there  is  no  reservation  on  the  apples.  The  breeze 
will  blow  from  the  West  while  you  are  with  us,  and  if  you  smile, 
our  generous  earth  will  crack  its  sides  till  you  think  you  have  met 
a  Californian  Earthquake. 

California  is  nine  hundred  miles  long  and  from  one  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  to  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  wide,  and  embodies 
all  that  is  best  of  the  entire  globe  in  that  compass.  Sample  the 
goods  that  the  gods  have  given  us ;  reform,  and  become  a  Cali- 
fornian. All  the  zones  are  here — torrid,  frigid  and  temperate— 
within  a  half  day's  journey  of  each  other,  and  ozone  in  every  one 
of  them ;  so  that  fondness  for  previous  conditions  of  existence 
can  form  no  excuse. 

Welcome,  again ! 

The  visitors  were  also  presented  with  handsome  silver  buttons, 
artistic  symbols  of  close  attachment,  having  engraved  on  one  side 
the  sun  setting  in  the  Pacific  and  on  the  reverse  the  words 
"  International  League  of  Press  Clubs,  San  Francisco."  From 
that  time  forward  the  Eastern  guests  when  they  fancied  a  want 
was  unsatisfied,  had  only  to  press  the  button — the  San  Francisco 
Press  Club  "did  the  rest." 

Thursday,  January  i4th,  was  a  bright,  sunshiny  day,  with  a 
warmth  suggestive  of  the  latter  part  of  May  in  New  York.  It  had 
been  the  intention  to  hold  a  session  of  the  Convention  in  the  fore- 
noon, but  that  plan  was  unanimously  and  perhaps  somewhat  vocifer- 
ously abandoned  when  the  local  committee  announced  that  carriages 
were  in  waiting  to  take  the  excursionists  to  Sutro  Heights,  to 
view  the  famous  Golden  Gate.  The  fact  began  to  dawn  upon 
our  excited  minds  that  we  had  traveled  four  thousand  miles  on 

55 


false  pretenses.  While  we  had  been  pretending  all  the  way  across 
the  continent  that  we  were  going  to  California  purely  on  Press 
Club  business  of  weighty  moment,  we  really  were  bent  on  sight- 
seeing and  enjoyment.  It  is  only  fair  to  state  that  this  view  of  the 
case  was  not  entertained,  even  secretly,  by  any  one  of  the  Eastern 
visitors,  until  it  was  forced  upon  their  consciences  by  their  San 
Francisco  hosts.  Nevertheless,  much  Con- 
vention business  was  transacted  before  we 
left  San  Francisco — but  it  was  no  fault  of 
our  entertainers  that  we  were  allowed  to 
attend  to  it.  Surreptitious  advantage  was 
taken  of  their  unguarded  moments — of  very 
infrequent  occurrence — when  a  slight  lull 
happened  in  the  torrent  of  entertainment, 
to  sneak  in  an  hour  or  so,  and  once  even 
a  whole  forenoon,  of  real  work.  (It  seems 
now,  on  deliberate  reflection,  to  have  been 
rather  unfair  conduct  on  our  part  towards 

those  who  treated  us  throughout  with  such  frank  open-handedness.) 
This  parenthesis  is  necessary  to  explain  how  we  happened  to  go 
to  Sutro  Park  that  morning,  instead  of  following  the  programme 
announced  by  the  Governing  Board  before  we  left  New  York. 
It  is  no  spirit  of  vanity  that  impels  the  assertion  that  we  presented 
a  splendid  appearance  as  we  rode  through  and  around  San  Francisco 
that  morning,  for  it  is  only  a  surmise  on  the  writer's  part,  based 
upon  the  attention  the  procession  everywhere  attracted.  Some 
were  in  coaches,  some  in  commodious  stages  and  some  contented 
themselves  on  the  top  of  a  tally-ho,  whose  four  spirited  horses  were 
"tooled"  by  no  less  a  personage  than  our  host,  "Lucky  Baldwin," 
to  whom  the  turnout  belonged.  After  climbing  some  of  the  seven 
hills  on  which  San  Francisco,  like  Rome,  is  founded,  we  were  driven 


AUDI. I'll    SUTRl). 


GOLDEN    GATE    l-'ROM    THE    TERRACE    AT 
SUTRO    HEIGHTS. 


through  the  beautiful  Golden  Gate  Park,  where  our  hosts 
informed  us  "there  are  no  keep-off -the-grass  signs,  and  where  the 
whole  population  has  room  to  breathe.  In  June  or  December, 

winter  or  summer,  there  are  acres  of 
flowers  and  all  out  of  doors.  The 
deer  have  a  valley  to  themselves,  the 
buffalo  have  a  whole  hillside.  One 
part  of  the  Park  is  for  the  children 
alone.  There  are  hills  and  meadows, 
thick  woods  and  beautiful  lawns, 
miles  of  glorious  drives  and  shady 
walks.  The  Park  extends  to  the 

ocean  beach,  where  the  billows  of  the  great  Pacific  ceaselessly  break 
and  roar."  All  this  we  verified,  and  enjoyed  immensely.  An  hour 
was  spent  inspecting  the  manifold  beauties  of  the  Conservatory, 
where  a  day  would  have  been  too  short  a  time  for  making  a  perfect 
examination,  and,  finally,  down  a  steep  hill  and  up  a  steeper  one, 
and  we  entered  the  beautiful  grounds  belonging  to  Adolph  Sutro,  of 
Nevada  silver  mining  and  Comstock  tunnel  fame.  Just  before 
arriving,  we  were  met  by  Mr.  Sutro  himself,  mounted  on  a  spirited 
thoroughbred,  which  he  rode  with 
dignified  grace,  who  escorted  us 
around  the  winding  roads,  amid 
groves  and  flower  beds  and  statuary, 
to  the  Cliff  House.  There  we  found 
ourselves  face  to  face  with  the 
Golden  Gate,  with  the  Pacific  Ocean 
spreading  its  vast  expanse  before  us, 
shimmering  almost  without  a  ripple 

in  the  brilliant  sunshine.  Near  at  hand  were  the  famous  Seal  Rocks, 
covered  with  hundreds  of  those  curious  phocids,  with  the  bland 

57 


SEAL  ROCKS   SEKX    FROM    SUTRO  HEIGHTS. 


countenances  of  statesmen  and  the  slippery  habits  of  politicians, 
sunning  themselves  in  affectionate  groups  as  they  barked  their 
welcome  to  the  visitors.  A  detailed  inspection  was  made  of  the 
princely  domain,  which  Mr.  Sutro  has  transformed  from  a  sand- 
hill into  a  Golden  State  Eden  by  the  exercise  of  the  same 
California!!  magic  as  that  with  which  he  had  raised  himself  from 
poverty  to  conspicuous  wealth,  after  which  lunch  was  served  on 


LUNCHEON    (IN    TIIK   I'uNCH   OF   THE   SUTRO    RESIDENCE,    JANUARY    14'1'H,    l8y2. 

the  porch  of  the  Sutro  residence,  where  two  long  tables  were  laid, 
whose  only  shelter  was  an  awning  for  protection  from  the  sun. 
This  exquisite  repast,  partaken  of  amid  ripening  fruits  and 
blooming  flowers  on  the  shore  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  the  open 
air  in  January,  was  the  forerunner  of  many  contrasts  with  home 
experiences  which  the  visitors  were  about  to  have  brought  to 
their  attention.  No  subsequent  occasion  on  the  entire  journey 

58 


weakened  the  deep  impression  of  that  elegant  entertainment  or  in 
any  degree  conflicted  with  the  agreeable  remembrances  that  were 
imparted  by  the  brilliant  spectacle  of  a  winter  out-door  festivity, 
where  all  the  attributes  of  wealth,  hospitality,  beauty,  intellect 
and  nature's  most  charming  aspects  were  so  skilfully  and  so 
harmoniously  blended. 

Fully  two  hours  were  occupied  in  discussing  the  lunch,  the 
menu  being  contrived  of  dishes  peculiar  to  the  California  region, 
seasoned  with  wines  and  fruits  of  native  growth.  A  few  short 
speeches  succeeded  the  repast,  Mr.  Sutro  leading  in  words  of 
cordial  greeting,  followed  by  Messrs.  Berri,  Welshons  and  Page. 
At  three  o'clock  the  party  broke  up  and  the  visitors  were  driven 
back  to  San  Francisco,  past  the  Golden  Gate  and  through  the 

entire  breadth  of  the  beautiful  military 
reservation  of  the  Presidio.  Late  in 
the  afternoon  the  opening  session  of 
the  Convention  was  held  in  the  Press 
Club  rooms  in  Pine  Street,  and  in  the 
evening  a  brilliant  reception  was  held 
at  the  same  place,  which  was  graced 

MR.     SUTRO'S    AQUARIUM    AND    BATHS 

AT  THK  CLIFF  HOUSE.  by  the  presence    of   the   leading  repre- 

sentatives   of     San     Francisco's    social 

worth  and  feminine  beauty.  The  handsome  club  rooms  were 
charmingly  arrayed  for  the  occasion,  the  walls  being  hung  with  paint- 
ings and  decorated  with  tasteful  adornments.  Vases  of  palms  and 
ferns  were  artistically  disposed,  the  deep  green  of  their  spreading 
leaves  making  a  reposeful  background  to  the  brilliant  kaleidoscopic 
effects  of  color  that  gleamed  and  fluttered  on  the  floors  in 
constantly  changing  combinations. 

The  effect  was  in  every  way  charming  to  the  senses.  During 
the  evening  an  excellent  musical  programme  by  several  prominent 

59 


artists  was  rendered.  The  visitors  in  whose  honor  the  entertain- 
ment was  given  were  overwhelmed  with  attentions,  their  hosts  leaving 
nothing  undone  that  graceful  hospitality,  coupled  with  considerate 
forethought  and  controlled  by  cultured  taste,  could  devise  for  their 
gratification.  It  was  on  this  evening  that  the  Eastern  party  arrived 
at  the  unanimous  conclusion,  which  was  reiterated  daily  during  their 
stay  in  California,  that  the  immediate  occasion,  whenever  and  wher- 
ever it  occurred,  was  the  most  delightful  experience  of  the  whole 
journey.  When  enjoyment  is  thus  steadily  and  progressively  aug- 
mented, how  inadequately  weak  words  are  to  give  it  proportionate 
expression.  It  is,  of  course,  impracticable  within  the  scope  of  the 
present  narrative  to  enter  into  minute  details  of  what  was  done 
and  who  did  it,  or  what  was  said  and  who  said  it,  or  what  was 
seen  and  who  provided  it,  at  all  the  enjoyable  gatherings  which 
greeted  the  travelers  along  their  route.  Something  must  be  left  to 
the  reader's  imagination,  and  even  that  flexible  faculty  may  be 
vigorously  strained  and  yet  not  stretch  to  the  full  gauge  of  the 
subject.  The  San  Francisco  Press  Club  reception,  however, 
possessed  a  special  interest,  as,  excepting  the  committee  who  had 
received  us  at  Auburn,  it  was  the  first  time  that  we  had  been 
brought  collectively  into  personal  communication  with  the 
gentlemen  of  whose  hospitalities  we  were  partaking.  To  the 
visitors,  at  least,  the  relationship  thus  set  on  foot  was  most 
agreeable.  The  entertainment  had  an  additional  attractiveness  in 
the  introduction  it  afforded  us  to  a  brilliant  element  of  San 
Francisco  society.  The  bar,  the  bench,  the  pulpit  and  the  army 
were  all  conspicuously  represented,  besides  the  leading  lights  of 
the  city's  literary  and  artistic  circles,  and  as  to  the  ladies  there 
present,  suffice  it  to  say  that  they  were  in  every  respect  charming 
and  attractive.  Press  Club  entertainments  of  that  order  are  not 
often  witnessed  in  any  city. 

60 


The  morning  of  Friday,  January  i5th,  was  ushered  in  by 
rosy-fingered  Aurora  with  the  brilliancy  of  its  predecessor  for  the 
special  delectation  of  the  Eastern  visitors.  The  Pacific  newspaper 
men  must  have  made  some  special  arrangement  with  the  weather 
bureau,  for  although  according  to  the  almanac  the  rainy  season 
was  at  its  height,  the  rains  ceased  to  fall  on  the  day  before  the 
Wagner  train  arrived  at  Auburn,  and  sunshine  prevailed  constantly 
while  the  party  remained  in  California.  This  second  day  was  spent 
on  the  water,  visiting  by  special  steamer,  the  "  Relief,"  the  points  of 
interest  that  skirt  the  beautiful  Bay  of  San  Francisco.  A  number 
of  ladies  and  gentlemen  from  the  city  accompanied  the  party,  and  a 
fine  brass  band  lent  its  melody  to  the  every  way  delightful  trip. 
The  Union  Iron  Works,  on  Mare  Island,  where,  under  the  conduct 

of  Mr.  Irving  M.  Scott,  several  Gov- 
ernment war  vessels,  including  the 
"  Monterey "  and  the  "  California," 
were  in  process  of  construction,  were 
thoroughly  inspected,  and  the  excur- 
sionists were  then  taken  around  Fort 
Point  and  through  the  Golden  Gate 

THE    GOLUKN    GA  IK    AT    FORT    I-UIXT.  iQ       the        g^j        ROCkS>       whjch        they       had 

viewed  on  the  previous  day  from  the 

beautiful  terraces  of  the  Sutro  domain.  The  progress  of  the  tug 
through  the  harbor  was  greeted  by  the  dipping  of  flags  and  firing 
of  guns  by  the  vessels  it  passed.  Thence  the  boat  steamed  to  lovely 
Sausalito,  where  the  voyagers  were  regaled  with  a  sparkling  luncheon 
at  the  quarters  of  the  Pacific  Yacht  Club.  This  repast,  apart  from 
its  own  intrinsic  merits,  was  noteworthy  as  being  the  one  and  only 
one  public  meal  partaken  of  by  the  travelers  during  the  month  of 
January,  1892,  at  which  no  speeches  were  permitted.  The  orators 
of  the  party  bore  their  deprivation  with  reasonably  good  grace, 

61 


and  the  listening  element  did  not  seem  to  have  their  appetites 
seriously  affected  by  the  omission.  About  three  o'clock  the 
return  trip  began  and  the  steamer  visited  San  Pablo  Bay  and 
passed  through  Roccoon  Straits,  heading  about  for  home  on 
arriving  at  Red  Rock.  It  was  five  o'clock  when  the  lines  were 
made  fast  to  the  Clay  street  pier.  Some  of  the  party  hastened 
to  the  Palace  Hotel,  where  a  reception  was  being  given  to  the 
Eastern  ladies  under  the  auspices  of  the  Pacific  Women's  Press  Club. 
The  guests  were  cordially  received  and  most  handsomely  enter- 
tained in  exquisitely  decorated  apartments  by  a  committee  of  ladies, 
conspicuous  among  whom  were  Mrs.  de  Young,  Mrs.  Hugh  Hume, 
Mrs.  Townsend,  Mrs.  Frona  E.  Wait,  Mrs.  Christien  and  Mrs. 
Black.  By  the  delegates  the  remainder  of  the  day  until  late 
dinner  time  was  devoted  to  the  affairs  of  the  Convention.  As  this 
narrative,  however,  relates  exclusively  to  the  business  activities  that 
marked  the  journey,  no  note  is  taken  of  the  occasional  hours  of 
relaxation  enjoyed  in  Convention  diversions.  Those  agreeable 
episodes  are  duly  recorded  in  Secretary  Price's  Report,  where,  also, 
are  described,  with  official  elegance,  various  fascinating  accompani- 
ments of  the  Convention,  including  the  first  half  of  the  "Open 
Session"  that  was  held  that  evening  at  the  Powell  Street  Opera  House, 
the  unrecorded  second  part  being  a  midnight  inspection  of  "  China- 
town "  by  the  visitors,  who  explored  that  unsavory  celestial  colony 
in  the  heart  of  San  Francisco  in  several  detachments,  each  under 
the  guidance  of  a  detective  officer.  It  is  not  essential  to  go  into 
detail  regarding  what  was  seen  and  smelled  that  night.  The  list 
would  comprise  highbinders,  joss  houses,  fruit  venders,  theatres,  tea 
stores,  opium  joints,  lodging  houses  and  subterranean  dives,  ranging 
in  elegance  from  the  pretentious  temples,  with  their  gilded  and 
carved  ornaments,  to  the  underground  places  of  abode  whose 
chief  advertisement  was  an  all-pervading,  insinuating,  soul-crushing 

62 


'.  . 

A    GROUP    OF    DELEGATES    FROM    EAST    AND    WEST. 

M.    P.    MUKPHV,  Jut.IUS    Ml'EHLE, 

P.    C.    BOVLE, 

DR.  FKIEDERICH,  J.  P.  DAMI-MAN, 


JULIUS  SCHMAL, 


T.  HENRY  MARTIN. 


and  utterly  indescribable  stench.  If  the  two  and  seventy  several 
and  well-defined  stenches  which  Coleridge  analyzed  in  the  city  of 
Cologne  could  be  combined  and  concentrated  into  one  vaporous 
fusion,  the  result  would  be  a  savory  suggestion  of  Araby  the  Blest 
in  comparison  with  the  fetid  effluvium  in  which  the  home  life  of 
San  Francisco  Chinatown  is  perpetually  immersed.  With  the 
understanding  imparted  by  the  guides  that  there  were  yet  lower 
degrees  of  filthiness  in  the  Chinese  section  than  had  been 
exhibited,  the  satiated  visitors,  with  unanimous  impulse,  determined 
to  return  to  the  hotel.  The  record  of  that  evening  would  be 
incomplete  without  mention  of  the  entertainment  given  by  the 
German  Press  Club  to  the  Fatherland's  contingent  of  the  League 
delegation.  The  affair  was  informal  and  jolly — "  Ganz  famos," 
as  one  of  the  party  declared  the  next  day.  Speeches  were  made, 
songs  were  sung,  reminiscences  were  exchanged,  and  Leer — and 
that  only — was  drunk,  and  the  hour  hand  was  reaching  out 
vigorously  toward  the  time  for  another  day  to  dawn  when,  with 
cordial  "Ade;  Auf  Wiedersehen"  and  earnest  handshakes,  the 
party  broke  up. 

On  Saturday,  January  i6th,  everybody  was  routed  out  at  an 
uncomfortably  early  hour,  considering  that  none  had  retired  until 
long  after  one  in  the  morning.  But  our  hosts  were  inexorable. 
Indications  were  beginning  to  manifest  themselves  on  the  part  of 
the  visitors  of  a  disposition  to  settle  permanently  in  San  Francisco, 
and  it  was  indispensable  that  they  should  be  removed  from  the 
place  before  the  complaint  became  chronic.  Accordingly,  at  eight 
o'clock  a  special  train  furnished  by  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  steamed  out  from  San  Francisco  with  two  hundred 
passengers  on  board,  bound  for  a  three  days'  excursion  to 
Monterey,  Santa  Cruz  and  San  Jose.  The  writer  of  these  pages 
was  especially  gratified  by  the  companionship  on  this  excursion 

64 


of  an  esteemed  friend,  Mr.  Arpad  Haraszthy,  the  well  known 
viticulturist,  whose  extensive  wine  cellars  are  prominent  objects  of 
interest  in  San  Francisco,  and  to  whom  he  was  indebted  for 
repeated  courtesies  during  his  stay  in  that  city.  It  was  a 
charming  day  as  the  train  rattled  along  the  shore  of  the  beautiful 
Bay  and  afterward  through  the  fertile  Santa  Clara  Valley,  whose 
abundant  vegetation,  already  far  progressed  towards  ripening, 
made  the  frozen  fields  of  the  East,  so  lately  traversed,  seem 
immeasurably  distant.  The  first  stop  was  at  Menlo  Park  and 
the  Palo  Alto  stock  farm  of  Senator  Leland  Stanford,  where  the 
party  disembarked  and  were  shown  the  equine  treasures  of  the 
farm,  including  the  famous  stallion,  Palo  Alto,  the  champion 
trotter  of  the  world,  of  fabulous  value,  but  fated  to  die  from 
pneumonia  a  few  months  later.  After  visiting  the  training  track 
and  witnessing  how  the  young  animals  are  broken  to  their  gait, 
carriages  were  taken  to  the  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  University,  the 
grandest  monument  to  paternal  affection  in  existence,  and  destined 
to  become  one  of  the  leading  educational  institutions  in  the  world. 
President  Jordan  received  the  party  with  a  hearty  welcome  and 
escorted  them  through  the  grounds  and  buildings.  This  institution 
was  founded  by  Senator  Stanford,  of  California,  in  memory  of 
his  only  son,  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  who  died  a  few  years  ago 
while  pursuing  his  education  abroad.  The  total  present  endow- 
ment is  estimated  at  $20,000,000,  which  includes  twenty  thousand 
acres  of  the  land  surrounding  it.  The  preliminary  buildings  had 
recently  been  completed  at  the  time  of  our  visit  and  the 
university  opened  with  over  four  hundred  students  on  its  rolls. 
The  set  of  buildings  which  we  saw  in  use  are  in  the  form  of  a 
large  quadrangle,  surrounded  by  one-story  structures  of  dove- 
colored  stone,  which,  on  the  inner  side  facing  the  quadrangle  have 
cloistered  porches,  extending  all  around  and  broken  by  handsome 

65 


arches  that  serve  for  entrances  to  the  inner  court.  The  buildings 
already  erected  form  the  nucleus  for  a  city  of  schools  which  it  is 
expected  will  extend  for  several  miles.  Already  there  were  in 


TOMMY     KVA.VS,  THK  YOUNGKST  DELEGATE  IN  THE  PARTY. 


them  a  large  number  of  regular  departments  of  the  university, 
laboratories,  lecture  rooms,  libraries,  workshops,  etc.,  in  full 
operation. 

Again  we  were  speeding  in  the  cars  past  farms  and  vineyards, 


66  - 


lit- 


THE    HOTEL    DEL    MiiXTK    AM)    ITS    SITRROUNDINGS. 


through  the  smiling  Santa  Clara  Valley,  until  at  one  o'clock 
the  train  arrived  at  Monterey,  and,  after  passing  through  a 
handsome  park-like  grove,  the  magnificent  Hotel  Del  Monte,  encom- 
passed by  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  forest  and  garden, 
opened  its  hospitable  doors,  and  the  realm  of  fairyland  was 
entered.  Here,  in  mid-January,  in  a  wilderness  of  flowers  and 
verdure,  surrounded  by  a  vast  wooded  park,  in  which  are  embodied 
all  the  exquisite  possibilities  of  skillful  landscape  gardening,  near 
the  shores  of  a  bay  as  blue  as  that  of  Naples,  stood  a  palace,  a 
masterwork  of  artistic  taste,  the  culmination  of  refinement  and 
luxury.  The  whole  scene  was  like  a  realization  of  a  delightful 
vision  of  the  imagination.  The  soft,  reposeful  charm  of  Monterey 
Bay  has  received  expression  in  the  following  lines  published  in 
the  California  Magazine  : 

On  sea-washed  rocks  a  dainty  lichen  grows  ; 

Back  from  the  shore  are  lofty  cypress  trees  ; 

And  in  the  waves  the  frail  anemones 
Softly  their  purple  fringes  ope  and  close. 
A  lonely  gull  on  slow  wing  seaward  goes  ; 

A  shallop  drifts  before  the  freshening  breeze  ; 

Full  are  the  lingering  hours  of  calm  and  ease  ; 
Full  is  the  soul,  world-weary,  of  repose. 

The  wind  is  singing  to  the  monotone 

Of  the  deep  tides  ;  and  singing  in  the  pines, 
Through  whose  soft  waving  foliage  lightly  shines 

The  sun  on  silver  beaches  as  it  shone 

Twelve  decades  past,  when  from  the  branches  swung 
The  Mission  bells  that  Junipero   hung. 

Monterey  is  one  of  the  quaintest  and  most  interesting  places 
in  California.  Located  by  its  Spanish  discoverer,  Vizcaino,  in 
1602,  it  was  here  that  nearly  two  centuries  later  the  old  Mission 

08 


Fathers  first  established  themselves,  and  their  little  cluster  of  adobe 
houses,  and  the  churches  in  which  they  ministered  to  their  savage 
flocks,  still  stand  on  the  shore  of  the  bay,  facing  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  dreamy  reminders  of  the  days  of  Junipero  Serra,  when 
the  king  of  Spain  yet  claimed  that  region  as  part  of  his  domain. 
A  granite  statue  marks  the  spot  where  Padre  Junipero  landed  in 
1770,  and  not  far  distant,  in  strange  historic  contrast,  are  the  ruins 
of  Fremont's  Fort,  where,  in  1847,  the  "Pathfinder"  first  raised 
the  bear-emblazoned  flag,  when  the  golden  State  was  wrested 
from  Mexico.  The  experiences  of  that  afternoon  will  never  be 
forgotten.  The  delightful  ride  of  eighteen  miles  to  wave-dashed 
Cypress  Point,  along  broad,  smooth  avenues,  now  skirting  the 
very  water's  edge,  now  passing  through  dense  pine  and  live  oak 
forests,  or  traversing  the  California  Chautauqua,  Pacific  Grove, 
or  through  quaint  settlements  of  Chinese  fishermen,  then  bringing 
up  by  the  sea  shore  at  an  abrupt  point,  beyond  which  are  ledges 
of  rocks  covered  with  seals,  is,  beyond  any  question,  one  of  the 
grandest  drives  in  the  world.  At  one  point  it  passes  through 
a  grove  of  singular  trees,  found  only  in  one  other  place  on  earth. 
They  are  cedars  of  Lebanon,  the  original  slips  of  which  were  said 
to  have  been  brought  from  the  Holy  Land  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers. 
Apparently  twisted  and  wrenched  by  time  and  tempest,  they 
present  a  curious  appearance,  with  their  short,  gnarled  trunks, 
surmounted  by  spreading  masses  of  dark  green  foliage  so  flattened 
down  as  to  be  impervious  to  sunshine  or  rain.  Only  in  Dore's 
pictures  are  such  trees  elsewhere  seen.  After  the  drive,  the 
welcome  banquet,  and  then  a  restful  interval,  followed  by  a  lively 
ball,  the  first  magical  suggestion  of  which  dispelled  the  weariness 
with  which,  down  to  that  moment,  the  feminine  element  of  the 
party  had  been  nearly  overcome.  And  that  lovely  evening !  Mid- 
winter though  it  was,  the  air  was  soft  and  balmy,  and  redolent 

69 


with  the  delicious  odors  of  a  myriad  beds  of  flowers.  A  mild 
zephyr  from  the  Pacific  imparted  a  tremulous  motion  to  the 
everywhere  overhanging  foliage,  through  which  the  rays  of  the 
moon  quivered  and  flickered  in  fitful  flashes  to  the  earth.  Nature's 
repose  is  her  most  inviting  aspect.  The  temptation  for  a  mid- 
night stroll  was  irresistible,  and,  too,  the  lights  in  the  Club  House 
near  by  beamed  with  such  hospitable  suggestion  ! 

Early    on     Sunday     morning    we    reluctantly     left     Monterey, 
feeling,   as   we    felt   at    departing    from    each    place  we  visited,   that 
the  glory  of  the  journey  was  over,   and   that   the   future  had  little 
to   offer   in    comparison    with    past    enjoyments— a    feeling,    by    the 
way,  which  evaporated  with    corresponding   regularity  within    thirty 
minutes  after  each   place   had  passed   from  sight.    Arriving  in   two 
hours  at  Santa  Cruz,  we  were  driven  out  to  what  some  called  the 
Natural  Bridge,  where  we  found 
a  seaside  observatory  on  a  rocky 
point  at  the  end  of  a  cable  road, 
and  where  we  were  regaled  with 
grapes  and  wine,  besides  which 
some  enthusiasts  claimed  to  have 
had    a    momentary    sight    of    a 
veritable    Pacific    Ocean    whale, 
"spouting"  in  the  sea.     On  our 
return    to    the    town    we    were 
transferred    to    a    narrow   gauge 
branch   of   the   Southern  Pacific 
Railroad,   and  in  the  course   of 
half    an    hour's    climb    up    the 
Santa  Cruz  Mountains  we  were 

at  "Big  Tree  Station,"  inspecting  with  great  satisfaction  a  grove 
of  colossal  redwood  forest  monarchs.  These  are  not  the  famous 


OBSERVATORY    AT    THE    NATUKAL    BRIDGE, 
SANTA    CRUZ. 


"  big  trees "  of  Calaveras  and  Mariposa,  but  they  are  plenty  big 
enough  to  justify  the  name  they  bear  and  to  be  entitled  to  fame 
on  their  own  account,  one  specimen  having  a  diameter  of  twenty 
feet  and  an  alleged  height  of  over  three  hundred.  As  Emerson 
says,  "they  have  a  monstrous  talent  for  being  tall."  They  belong 
to  the  species  seqiioia  sempcrvirens,  and,  like  their  larger  cousins, 
the  sequoia  gigantea,  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  they  are  regarded 
by  scientific  know-alls  as  survivals  of  a  period  of  the  world's 
history  when,  with  the  prevalence  of  a  more  humid  atmosphere 
than  now  obtains,  they  were  widely  distributed,  the  fossil  remains 
of  some  of  them  having  been  found  as  far  north  as  the  frozen 
soil  of  Greenland.  The  name  Sequoia  was  that  of  an  ingenious 
Cherokee  Indian,  who  invented  the  Cherokee  alphabet,  and  it  was 
bestowed  upon  the  California!!  redwood  by  a  German  botanist, 
Endlicher,  in  1847,  about  five  years  before  the  Calaveras  grove 
was  discovered.  But  the  redwood  is  a  favorite  tree  in  California, 
being  admirably  adapted  for  cabinet  work  and  general  building 
purposes,  and  these  majestic  relics  of  an  uncertain  antiquity  are 
rapidly  disappearing  before  a  foe  more  promptly  destructive  than 
the  diminishing  humidity  of  the  atmosphere.  -The  big  redwood 
grove  near  Santa  Cruz  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
interesting  features  of  that  picturesque  coast  range  region.  One 
veteran,  whose  trunk  near  the  earth  has  been  hollowed  out  by 
fire,  would  give  comfortable  standing  room  to  fully  thirty  persons 
in  its  charred  interior,  and  there  are  others  in  the  grove  yet 
larger.  Having  bestowed  due  admiration  upon  the  big  trees, 
we  speeded  on  to  San  Jose,  the  capital  of  Santa  Clara  County, 
where  we  were  received  with  enthusiastic  welcome  by  a  committee 
of  citizens,  who  escorted  us  in  fine  style  to  most  agreeable  quarters 
in  the  handsome  hostelry,  the  Hotel  Vendome,  which  was 
gorgeously  decorated  with  flowers  in  our  honor,  Luncheon  was 

7' 


succeeded  by  a  processional  drive  through  the  city  and  its  suburbs, 
which  we  found  resplendent  with  Queen  Anne  cottages  and  other 
tasteful  residences,  surrounded  with  fine  lawns  and  well  tended 


THE   LICK   OBSKRVATORY   ON    MOUNT    HAMILTON,    NEAR   SAN   JOSE,    CAL. 


orchards.  Altogether,  San  Jose  gave  the  impression  of  a  suc- 
cessful little  city,  in  which  modern  ideas  of  thrift  and  architecture 
are  rapidly  replacing  the  crudeness  of  earlier  days.  The  broad 


72 


streets  are  traversed  by  electric  railways  and  are  made  attractive 
to  the  sight  by  the  frequent  occurrence  of  open  squares  abounding 
in  ornamental  palms.  After  a  view  of  the  old  Mission  Church 
and  a  visit  to  the  rooms  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  other 
prominent  places  of  interest,  we  returned  at  dusk  to  the  Vendome 
to  prepare  for  the  evening's  banquet,  which  proved  to  be  a 
genuinely  elegant  affair.  The  entertainment  wound  up  with  a  con- 
cert in  the  music  hall  of  the  hotel,  and  about  midnight  the  travelers 
eagerly  sought  their  apartments,  thoroughly  worn  out  with  the 
labors  of  that  busily  occupied  Sabbath.  The  day  had  been  spent 
in  verdant  forests  and  amid  blooming  flowers.  Just  one  week 
previous  we  had  been  sleighing  at  Leadville  and  bathing  in  a 
blinding  snowstorm  in  the  hot  pool  at  Glenwood,  Colorado.  It 
was  difficult  to  bring  one's  mind  to  a  realizing  sense  of  the 
striking  experiences  we  had  passed  through  in  that  short  interval 
of  time. 

The  next  morning  showed  the  Eastern  party  to  be  somewhat 
divided  in  purpose.  They  were  universally  agreed,  however,  that 
it  was  necessary  to  wire  their  home  offices  at  once  for  a  fresh 
supply  of  adjectives  expressive  of  admiration,  the  stock  with 
which  they  started  having  been  completely  exhausted.  A  large 
number  set  out  at  seven  o'clock  in  carriages  for  a  mountain 
climb  of  twenty-eight  miles,  to  visit  the  Lick  Observatory,  on 
Mount  Hamilton,  escorted  by  the  Mayor  and  a  special  committee. 
The  others,  contenting  themselves  with  a  distant  sight  of  the 
Observatory,  where 

"  On   yon   peak   against   the   cloudless   sky, 

"  The   guarding  eye  of  science   reads   the  deep," 

in  full  view  from  the  city,  saved  themselves  the  labor  of  the 
mountain  ascent,  and  returned  to  San  Francisco  in  the  early 

73 


forenoon.  The  party  who  made  the  Mount  Hamilton  trip  had 
a  glorious  ride.  The  atmosphere  was  transparently  clear,  and 
the  beauties  of  the  Santa  Clara  Valley  were  unfolded  in  all  their 
glory  of  verdant  undulation,  as  the  spirited,  four-horse  teams 
speeded  along  the  winding  road  that  connects  the  low  land  with 
the  clouds.  Mayor  Rucker,  of  San  Jose,  the  indefatigable  Charles 
Shortridge,  editor  of  the  San  Jose  Mercury,  and  their  associate 
committeemen,  in  collusion  with  the  Vendome  Hotel  management, 
had  sent  a  corps  of  waiters  in  advance  with  the  material  for  a 
robust  lunch,  which  was  attacked  and  successfully  overcome  at 
Smith's  Creek,  a  few  miles  below  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 
About  one  o'clock,  at  an  altitude  of  4,400  feet,  the  great  Observatory 
was  reached,  and  the  travelers  at  once  laid  aside  all  concern 
for  earthly  matters.  Peering  through  a  twelve-inch  telescope,  a 
twinkling  light  was  indicated  to  them  as  the  star  Vega,  many 
million  miles  more  distant  from  them  than  the  sun ;  so  far  away, 
indeed,  that  it  requires  sixteen  years  for  a  wave  of  its  light  to  be 
transmitted  to  the  earth.  The  contemplation  of  this  mysteriously 
remote  orb  giving  rise  to  uncomfortable  suggestions  as  to  the 
distance  that  intervened  between  them  and  heaven,  they  turned  for 
comfort  to  the  great  instrument  sixty  feet  long,  with  a  thirty-six 
inch  lens,  that  showed  them  Venus,  which  their  educated  minds 
recognized  as  being  in  much  closer  proximity.  The  wonderful 
mechanism  of  the  Observatory's  great  dome  was  greatly  admired, 
its  one  hundred  tons  of  weight  being  so  delicately  poised  on  wheels 
as  to  revolve  readily  under  the  impetus  of  a  moderate  shove  of 
the  shoulders.  The  huge  telescope,  also,  is  so  accurately  adjusted, 
that  it  can  be  moved  with  the  pressure  of  one's  hand.  Every 
imaginable  contrivance  of  mechanical  ingenuity  requisite  for  carrying 
into  effect  the  purposes  of  the  institution's  founder  appears  to  have 
been  provided  for  that  little  colony  of  star-gazers,  whose  thirty  or 

74 


THREE  OF  THE  FOUNDERS  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL  LEAGUE  OF  PRESS  CLUBS. 
FOSTER  COATES,  THOMAS  H.  KEENAN,  JR.,  LYNN  R.  MEEKINS. 


forty  members  are  supplied  with  food  from  San  Jose,  twenty-eight 
miles  away,  and  who,  when  snow  obstructs  the  mountain  roads,  are 
wholly  cut  off  from  intercourse  with  the  outside  world.  The 
descent  of  the  mountain  was  accomplished  with  exhilarating  rapidity, 
and  at  half-past  six  o'clock  the  party  were  in  San  Francisco  with 
time  to  dine  and  rest  before  preparing  for  the  entertainment  of 
the  evening. 

That  night  marked  an  epoch  in  the  life  of  every  member  of 
the  party.  The  men  were  the  guests  of  the  San  Francisco  Press 
Club  at  a  banquet  in  the  Palace  Hotel,  and  the  ladies  were  given 
a  reception  by  the  Pacific  Coast  Women's  Press  Association  at  the 
Pleasanton  Hotel.  Both  were  memorable  events.  The  steady 
succession  of  agreeable  surprises  that  had  marked  the  entertainments 
during  the  week  had  inspired  the  Eastern  party  with  a  profound 
admiration  for  the  capacity  for  hospitality  possessed  by  their  San 
Francisco  Press  Club  hosts.  The  Palace  Hotel  farewell  banquet 
was  a  fitting  culmination  of  the  series,  though  in  some  respects  it 
seemed  calculated  to  result  in  retarding  the  parting  guests  rather 
than  to  speed  them  on  their  way.  At  the  main  table  Mr.  Hugh 
Hume,  President  of  the  San  Francisco  Press  Club,  presided,  with 
Gen.  W.  H.  L.  Barnes  at  his  right  as  toast-master.  Next  to  the 
last  named  gentleman  was  General  Ruger,  the  popular  commander 
of  the  Military  Department  of  the  Pacific;  and  interspersed  among 
the  guests  at  the  table,  and  at  the  five  others  that  extended  from 
it  at  right  angles,  were  many  local  celebrities,  representing  the  bar, 
the  press  and  the  municipal  government.  The  unique  menu  card 
deserves  to  be  perpetuated.  It  comprised  several  pages  in  imitation 
of  "copy"  prepared  for  printing,  fastened  together  at  the  upper 
end  with  a  cord.  On  the  first  page  was  depicted  a  bear,  holding 
in  one  paw  a  bottle  of  ink  taken  from  an  open  box  labeled  "The 
Press  Club  of  San  Francisco."  In  the  background,  in  letters  of 

76 


gold,  was  the  inscription,  "  International  League  of  Press  Clubs," 
while  underneath  the  whole  were  the  words,  "  Report  of  the 
Committee  on  Banquet  tendered  to  the  visiting  delegates  of  the 
International  League  of  Press  Clubs,  San  Francisco,  January  i8th, 
1892."  The  menu  was  as  follows: 

To  the  President  and  Board  of  Managers,    San    Francisco    Press 
Club  : 

GENTLEMEN.  —  The  committee  appointed  by  you  in  the  matter  of  the 
banquet  for  the  visiting  delegates  report  as  follows  : 

After  a  certain  amount  of  highly  respectable  discussion,  it  was  decided 
to  hold  the  banquet  at  the  Palace  Hotel.  There  are,  of  course,  many  finer 
and  more  pretentious  hostelries  than  this  in  our  city  and  vicinity,  but 
this  strikes  a  fair  average  and  will  give  our  visitors  something  of  an  idea 
how  the  San  Francisco  newspaper  man  lives  during  365  days  in  the  year. 


Which  is  the  most  elegant  Anglo-Saxon  we  could  extract  from  M-E-N-U, 
we  are  happy  to  say,  have  been  determined  upon  without  serious  collision 
between  any  of  the  committeemen,  but  you  will  never  know  the  amount 
of  gray  matter  expended  in  the  elaboration  of  the  M-E-N-U.  (Your  next 
banquet  committee  will  learn  of  it  through  sad  experience.)  We  have 
decided  to  commence  with 


($aHfOttttia  ©ystCVS.  —  This  will  put    our  guests  at  home   immediately    and 

will  give  them  an  opportunity  of  remarking  how 
superior  our  bivalve  is  to  that  of  the  effete  East. 
After  this  succulent  product  of  our  native  heath 
(?)  comes 

©OUSOTtttWC  (Jfoyal)  —  This   is  as  near  as  we    could    come    to    straight    Eng- 

lish, as  there  appeared  to  be  a  lack  of  euphony 
about  "royal  soup." 

77 


(Assorted) — There  was  considerable  silence  regarding  this 
item.  Only  one  member  appeared  familiar  with  the 
subject,  and  even  he  admitted  that  there  was  some 
doubt  in  his  mind  as  to  whether  what  he  had  once 
partaken  of  was  hors  d'oeuvres  or  hors  de  combat. 

Salmon  (Holland  Sauce),  POTATOES  PARISIAN.— "  What's  the  matter 
with  Sacramento  River  Salmon  ? "  was  the  query 
immediately  propounded  by  an  obstreperous  mem- 
ber, but  it  availed  him  nothing,  as  the  committee 
were  totally  unfamiliar  with  the  rights  of  minorities. 

(St.  Cloud). — Anent  this  there  was  hot  discussion,  chiefly 
regarding  the  pronunciation  of  the  qualifying 
adjunct.  When  it  was  learned  how  the  majority 
pronounced  it,  the  member  hailing  from  Boston 
retired  from  active  duty  with  the  committee. 

.— Unanimously  decided  upon.  Even  the  doubting 
Thomas,  who  feared  the  possibility  of  getting 
something  not  the  agaricus  campestris,  was  carried 
away  by  the  popular  enthusiasm.  After  this  little 
divertisement  comes 

Of  ^Sccf  (Richelitu),  FRENCH  PEAS. — After  which  comes  the  piece  of 
resistance  (?)  of  the  evening.  (We  were  told  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  to  use  this  expression 
about  something  or  the  banquet  would  not  be 
complete.  The  ordnance  editor  did  the  translating.) 

udi,  CELERY  SAUCE. — There  was  some  discussion  as  to 
whether  the  ducks  should  be  served  with  or  without 
the  canvas,  but  on  motion,  duly  seconded,  the  mat- 
ter was  referred  back  to  the  head  cook,  with  power 
to  act.  After  this,  in  rapid  succession  will  come 

gcssevt. 
©offee.  giqucurs. 

78 


• 


'SOME  OF  THE  GUESTS  OF  THE  PRESS  CLUB  LEAGUE. 

MRS.  DR.  HUNTER,  MRS.  J.  H.  YAGEK,  Miss  MATTISON, 

Miss  A.  KELLOGG,  MRS.  LYNN  R.  MEEKINS.  MRS.  T.  H.  MARTIN. 


While  the  foregoing  affair  is  being  served,  it  is  proposed  that  the 
assembled  guests  and  occasional  hosts  partake  of 

Hock  (Napa  Valley  Wine  Company). 

Haul  Sauterne  (Charles  A.  Wetmore). 

Portola  Vineyard  Claret  (E.  F.  Preston). 

riargaux,  Souvenir  (Charles  A.  Wetmore). 
"loot  &  Chandon,  Brut  Imperial. 
Q.  H.    Mumin.  Extra  Dry. 

By  way  of  parenthesis,  we  wish  to  state  that  it  has  been  your 
committee's  sole  and  constant  aim  to  please  those  who  want  the  earth. 
Providence  alone  knows  how  near  we  have  come  to  it. 

A  trifle  weary  and  travel-stained,  and  with  sincere  sympathy  for  the 
concocters  of  the  next  banquet,  we  beg  to  submit  ourselves,  your  obedient 
servants. 

THE  COMMITTEE. 

The  parenthetical  allusion  to  those  who  wanted  "  the  earth " 
was,  of  course,  intended  for  home  application  exclusively.  The 
Eastern  delegates  on  that  evening  would  have  been  contented  to 
take  San  Francisco  as  their  modest  share.  The  speeches  that 
followed  the  discussion  of  the  repast  have  been  officially  recorded 
in  the  annual  report  of  the  League,  and  it  only  remains  to  state 
here  that  throughout  the  night  and  until  the  small  hours  of  the 
morrow  the  reason  of  the  diners  was  copfously  feasted  while  their 
souls  overflowed  with  the  inspiring  influences  of  good  fellowship 
and  good  cheer. 

The  Ladies'  Reception  given  by  the  Women's  Press  Association, 
of  California,  at  the  Hotel  Pleasanton,  was  an  equally  brilliant  and 
successful  affair.  There  were  some  outspoken  denunciations  of  the 
exclusiveness  of  the  men's  banquet,  whereby  was  enforced  a 
separation  of  the  sexes  wholly  out  of  harmony  with  the  professed 
principles  of  the  League,  but  on  the  whole  the  ladies  proved  equal 
to  the  emergency  and  made  a  night  of  it  on  their  own  account,  of 

80 


which  they  will  long  treasure  the  remembrance.  The  guests  were 
received  by  a  commiltee  of  the  Club  in  the  handsomely  decorated 
parlors  of  the  hotel,  and  as  very  few  declinations  had  been  received 
to  the  seven  hundred  and  fifty  invitations  sent  out,  the  committee 
had  a  tolerably  busy  time.  The  formal  exercises  that  followed  the 
introduction  of  the  visitors  were  begun  by  Miss  Kate  Field,  who 
spoke  in  warm  terms  of  the  useful  functions  exercised  by  Press 
Clubs  in  the  United  States,  drawing  a  line,  however,  at  the  point 
where  men  go  off  to  feast  by  themselves  to  the  utter  exclusion  of 
their  professional  sisters.  But  the  speakers  who  followed  Miss 
Field  were  so  eloquent  in  their  eulogiums  of  women,  and  of 
journalistic  women  in  particular,  that  the  audience  forgot  the  slight 
the  men  had  offered  them  in  rapturous  contemplation  of  their  own 
transcendent  excellences.  The  reception  terminated  at  midnight, 
and  was  voted  by  all  the  participants  as  having  been  one  of  the 
most  delightful  assemblages  imaginable. 

The  ladies  to  whom  the  visitors  were  indebted  for  their 
agreeable  entertainment  comprised  with  others  the  following 
committees  : 

Programme  Committee: 

MRS.  JULIETTE  MATHIS,  MRS.  LYUIA  PRF.SCOTT, 

"      E.  O.  SMITH,  "      ALICE  KINGSBURY  COOLEY, 

L.  J.  WATKINS,  "      M.  P.  JOHNSON, 

Miss  MARY  LAMHKKT. 

Reception : 

MRS.  LILLIAN  PLUNKETT,  MRS.  FRANCES  B.  EDCERTON, 

JUANA  AciILEY  NEAL,  "     LEILA  ELLIS, 

"      JULIETTE  MATHIS,  "      MARY  LY.NDE  HOFFMAN, 

LOUISE  HUMPHREY  SMITH,  "      SARAH  B.  COOPER, 

Miss  MINNA  V.  LEWIS. 

Entertainment : 

MRS.  BARBARA  KNELL,  MRS.  F.  W.  D'EvEi.vu, 

FLORENCE  PERCY  MATHESON,  "      LILLIAN  PLUNKETT, 

"      ALICE  CARY  WATERMAN,  "      JULIETTE  MATHIS. 

81 


Tuesday,  January  igth,  was  devoted  to  concluding  the  business 
of  the  Convention,  and  after  the  adjournment  of  that  body  the 
visitors  dispersed  themselves  over  the  city  seeing  the  sights, 
inspecting  the  palaces  on  Nob  Hill  and  in  other  localities  dedicated 
to  wealth  and  fashion,  and  in  searching  for  mementos  of  the  visit  • 
to  carry  back  to  their  liomes.  For  this  was  to  be  their  last  day  in 
San  Francisco,  and  despite  the  multifarious  excitements  of  the 
preceding  week  it  seemed  to  the  Eastern  party  as  though  they  had 
enjoyed  too  little  opportunity  for  acquainting  themselves  with  the 
characteristics  of  the  Occidental  city,  whose  open  gates  had  invited 
them  to  cross  the  continent  and  of  whose  broad-gauged  people 
they  were  always  thereafter  to  carry  so  agreeable  a  remembrance. 
Accordingly,  that  was  a  busily  occupied  afternoon,  winding  up  with 
a  fine  banquet  at  the  hotel,  tendered  by  their  host  of  a  week,  Mr. 
Baldwin.  The  entire  first  floor  of  the  hotel  was  decorated  with 
palms,  ferns,  green  trees,  smilax  and  potted  firs,  so  that  the  dining 
room  was  entered  through  a  gorgeous  bower. 

In  the  evening  the  climax  of  entertainment  was  reached  in  a 
reception  given  in  honor  of  the  visiting  delegates  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
M.  H.  de  Young  in  their  handsome  residence  on  California  street. 
There  was  a  cheery  informality  about  that  last  evening  of  the  San 
Francisco  visit,  which  was 'especially  charming,  and  the  entertainment 
throughout  was  so  cordially  genial  as  to  avert  from  it  the  slightest 
tinge  of  sombreness  that  might  be  predicated  of  a  concerted  leave- 
taking.  This  effect  was  further  sustained  by  the  fact  that  the  host 
and  hostess  were  pledged  to  accompany  the  travelers  throughout 
the  remainder  of  their  journey  in  California,  an  arrangement  that 
had  been  greeted  with  unqualified  satisfaction.  There  were  over 
four  hundred  members  of  San  Francisco's  choicest  society  gathered 
in  the  de  Young  mansion,  and  the  evening  slipped  merrily  away. 
The  supper  down  stairs  in  the  extensive  Chinese  room  drew  forth 

82 


exclamations  of  amazement  from  those  who  had  not  previously 
seen  that  wonderful  apartment,  with  its  wealth  of  gorgeous  and 
grotesque  splendor,  cunning  carvings,  rare  mosaics  and  other 
curiosities  innumerable.  Great,  however,  as  was  the  admiration 
elicited  by  the  varied  display  of  Celestial  skill,  one,  after  all,  could 
not  avoid  feeling  a  certain  triumphant  sense  of  personal  superiority 
while  sipping  Ruinart  and  Pommery  Sec,  and  discussing  the 


RECEPTION    ROOM    IN    M.    H.    »F.    YOUNG  S    RESIDENCE,    SAN    FRANCISCO. 


elaborate  menu  at  a  table  on  which  possibly  Confucius  had  written 
the  "  Five  Canonical  Books  "  that  for  the  past  fourteen  centuries 
have  served  as  the  basis  of  Chinese  literature.  Whatever  the 
anachronism  involved,  the  nineteenth  century  certainly  had  the  best 
of  it  that  evening.  But  midnight  had  long  since  passed,  and  an 
early  start  must  be  made  on  the  morrow.  Trunks  were  meanwhile 
to  be  packed  and  other  arrangements  to  be  perfected  for  the 


homeward  journey.  So  with  lingering  grasps  of  the  hands  of  our 
newly  made  friends,  and  mutual  expressions  of  hopes  of  again 
meeting,  the  last  farewells  were  spoken  and  the  final  entertainment 
in  San  Francisco  of  the  Eastern  delegates  was  ended. 

It  would  be  out  of  place,  if,  indeed,  it  were  practicable,  to 
refer  by  name  to  every  person  to  whom  the  visitors  had  been 
indebted  for  courtesies  and  hospitalities  during  their  visit  to  San 
Francisco.  To  the  Press  Club  Reception  Committee,  however, 
the  writer  desires  to  record,  for  himself  and  on  behalf  of  his 
associates  and  traveling  companions,  some  faint  sense  of  the 
unqualified  gratification  which  the  unwearying  attentions  of  that 
committee  afforded,  and  to  repeat  here  the  wish,  that  had  a 
thousand  utterances  before  the  party  broke  up  at  the  journey's 
end,  that  it  may  be  their  pleasure  and  happiness  some  day  to 
act  in  their  turn  as  the  hosts  and  entertainers  of  those  noblemen 
of  the  Pacific  Slope.  The  committee  in  question  comprised 
Gen.  John  F.  Sheehan,  Chairman  ;  Hugh  Hume,  President  of  the 
San  Francisco  Press  Club  ;  O.  Black,  Secretary  ;  M.  H.  de  Young, 
Local  Delegate  to  the  League  of  Press  Clubs ;  T.  T.  Williams, 
Ross  Jackson,  John  McComb,  H.  H.  Egbert,  E.  A.  Phillips,  John 
Finlay,  Harry  Mann,  Judge  Hunt,  T.  F.  Bonnet,  Harry  M.  Tod, 
O.  J.  Stillwell,  E.  F.  Moran,  Samuel  Ewing,  Samuel  Davis,  T.  J. 
Murphy,  Jeremiah  Lynch,  C.  M.  Palmer,  John  Lord  Love, 
George  R.  Sanderson,  James  O.  Denny,  Nat  J.  Brittan  and  E.  W. 
Townsend. 

The  San  Francisco  Press  Club  had,  as  already  shown,  welcomed 
us  on  our  arrival  in  glowing  words  of  tempting  invitation.  Their 
farewell  dirge  was  equally  characteristic  : 

"  The  newspaper  men  of  San  Francisco  say  good-bye  to  their 
visiting  brethren  of  the  East  with  reluctance.  The  association 
has  done  us  good ;  and,  if  we  were  able,  we  would  hold  you 

84 


here  for  a  fortnight  longer.  We  are  heartily  glad  to  know 
you,  and  there  is  enough  testimony  in  to  warrant  the  belief  that 
the  occasion  has  not  been  wholly  devoid  of  interest  to  yourselves. 

"  But  the  fiat  of  the  autocratic  body  known  as  the  Committee 
of  Arrangements  has  gone  forth,  and  you  must  leave  us.  May 
your  homeward  journey  be  safe,  and  may  you  carry  with  you  a 
pleasant  recollection  of  California  and  her  people.  Though  you 
have  seen  a  deal  of  California  and  Californians  since  your  entrance 
into  the  State,  there  is  still  in  store  for  you  much  which  has 
never,  up  to  date,  failed  to  attract  and  hold  the  interest  of  the 
Eastern  visitor.  That  semi-tropical  wonderland  of  the  South,  the 
land  of  golden  fruits  and  blossoming  flowers  and  singing  birds,  the 
Italy  of  America,  remains  to  be  explored.  At  Fresno,  where  you 
are  programmed  for  a  day's  stay,  you  will  be  shown  the  world's 
largest  and  finest  raisin  vineyards,  and  gain  an  idea  of  the  nature 
of  our  interior  midwinter  climate. 

"  For  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Fresno  your  route  lies 
through  the  great  San  Joaquin  Valley,  and  then,  crossing  Tehachapi, 
some  of  the  difficulties  which  beset  the  Southern  Pacific  Company 
will  be  noted.  Then  comes  the  Mojave  desert ;  it  is  a  novelty, 
but  we  are  not  proud  of  it. 

"  Then  comes  Los  Angeles,  the  metropolis  of  the  Southern 
citrus  belt.  Here  is  the  earliest  home  (in  California)  of  the 
orange,  the  lemon,  the  fig  and  the  vine  ;  the  bananas  and  pineapples 
are  now  on  the  list. 

"  Then  come  Riverside,  San  Bernardino  and  San  Diego,  all 
replete  with  glories  due  to  Nature's  bounteous  blessing  of  soil  and 
climate. 

"  Then  there  is  a  climb  over  the  mountains,  another  desert  to 
cross  arid  the  thing  is  done.  You  have  left  California  and  are 
on  your  way  home. 

"Good-by!       Come    again. 

"TiiE    PRESS    CLUB    OF    SAN    FRANCISCO." 

If  any  point  of  this  narrative  sustains  the  inference  that  while 
in  California  the  visitors  had  been  afforded  the  privilege  of  resting, 
the  writer  has  failed  to  express  himself  as  lucidly  as  he  had 
desired.  Such  a  concession  by  the  San  Francisco  Press  Club 

8s 


would  have  been  a  clear  violation  of  contract  on  the  part  of  that 
organization.  At  a  dinner  at  the  Marlhorough  Hotel,  in  New 
York,  given  the  previous  November  by  members  of  the  New 
York  Press  Club  to  the  visiting  officers  of  the  League,  Mr.  de 
Young,  in  inviting  the  delegates  to  visit  the  Pacific  Slope,  distinctly 
stated  that  he  was  instructed  by  the  San  Francisco  Press  Club  to 
promise  the  visitors  during  their  stay  a  full  supply  of  everything, 
excepting  sleep.  That  promise,  with  its  limitation,  was  kept  to 
the  letter.  They  evidently  thought  it  would  be  superfluous  for 
the  visitors  to  lie  in  bed,  when  opportunities  were  so  abundant 
elsewhere.  The  only  other  luxury,  besides  that  of  sleep,  which 
was  at  all  sparingly  offered  was  drinking  water.  But,  in  fairness 
to  San  Francisco,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  visit  was 
made  during  the  "rainy  season,"  when  no  special  provision  of  that 
element  would  seem  to  be  required.  However,  if  the  visitors 
suffered  any  particular  inconvenience  from  the  deprivation,  they 
were  politely  careful  not  to  allude  to  it  in  the  face  of  the  masterly 
example  of  abstinence  set  them  by  their  hosts. 

Wednesday,  January  2oth,  marked  a  new  epoch  in  the  journey. 
Invitations  had  been  received  from  several  cities  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  State,  through  the  municipal  authorities  and  boards  of 
trade  and  citizens'  committees,  for  the  Eastern  delegates  to  visit 
them  on  their  homeward  journey,  and  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad,  which  had  captured  us  at  Ogden,  insisted  upon  holding 
us  in  its  grasp  until  we  should  arrive  at  Los  Angeles.  Accord- 
ingly, after  parting  with  some  of  our  San  Francisco  hosts  at  the 
hotel,  and  being  escorted  across  the  ferry  to  Oakland  by  others, 
we  started  from  the  depot  in  the  latter  place  at  10  o'clock  on 
Wednesday  morning,  having  first  arrived  in  that  city  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  Wednesday  previous.  At  2  P.  M.  we  reached 
Sacramento  in  the  custody  of  Messrs.  Houghton,  Davis,  Sheehan, 

86 


Schmidt,  Larkin  and  Drury,  a  committee  of  representatives  of  that 
capital,  who  had  joined  the  train  at  Davisville.  The  delegates 
were  presented  with  printed  programmes  descriptive  of  the  city. 
Mayor  Comstock,  with  other  committeemen,  received  us  at  the 
depot,  and  we  were  speedily  driven  to  the  rooms  of  the  Sutter 
Club,  where  a  bevy  of  particularly  handsome  lasses  were  waiting 
to  assist  us  to  an  elegant  luncheon,  after  presenting  the  men  of 
the  party  with  boutonnieres  of  violets  and  the  ladies  with  corsage 
bouquets.  Several  brief  addresses  followed  on  both  sides,  Mr.  S. 
Prentiss  Smith  and  Mayor  Comstock  speaking  in  behalf  of 
Sacramento,  and  Messrs,  de  Young,  Berri  and  Worrall  for  the 
League.  Mr.  de  Young's  eloquent  acknowledgment  of  Sacra- 
mento's splendid  reception  of  the  delegates  was  vigorously  indorsed 
by  the  latter  body,  and,  after  a  most  agreeable  entertainment,  the 
party  re-entered  their  carriages  and  were  conveyed  to  the  State 
Capitol  building,  where  Secretary  Johnson  did  the  honors  in  the 
absence  of  Governor  Markham,  who  was  detained  at  home  by  an 
attack  of  the  grip.  After  inspecting  the  Capitol,  under  the  escort 
of  a  joint  committee  of  citizens  and  pretty  girls,  a  reception  was 
held  in  the  Assembly  Chamber.  Attorney-General  Hart  greeted 
the  visitors  in  words  of  warm  welcome,  to  which  President  de 
Young  responded  in  felicitous  phrases.  Ex-Vice-President  Lynn 
R.  Meekins,  of  Baltimore,  followed  with  a  masterly  speech  that 
was  roundly  applauded,  and  Messrs.  Page  and  Berri,  of  New  York, 
also  spoke  with  effect.  From  the  Capitol  the  guests  were  given 
an  opportunity  to  examine  the  paintings  in  the  million  dollar 
Crocker  Art  Gallery,  and  were  subsequently  taken  to  Suiter's  Fort 
and  through  the  principal  streets  of  the  city.  A  conspicuous 
feature  of  the  entertainment  in  Sacramento,  one  over  which  the 
young  unmarried  men  of  the  party  were  agitated  for  days  after- 
wards, and  which,  strange  to  say,  even  the  ladies  of  the  party 

87 


cordially  conceded,  was  the  presence  among  the  entertainers  of  a 
number  of  especially  pretty  and  lovable  young  ladies.  Sacramento, 
on  account  of  such  a  revelation  of  loveliness,  will  always  have  a 
warm  place  in  the  remembrance  of  that  Eastern  party.  It  was 
with  unfeigned  reluctance  that  the  train  was  taken  at  7  in  the 
evening,  for  it  seemed  that  it  would  have  been  pleasant  to  spend 
a  week  in  Sacramento  rather  than  to  hurry  through  the  place  in 
the  brief  hours  of  a  midwinter  afternoon. 


CHAPTER  in. 


SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA. 

JANUARY  21-24,  1892. 
* 

ITH  the  early  morning  of  January  2ist  began 
the  party's  delightful  experience  of  Southern 
California,  the  Italy  of  America.  It  lasted 
but  four  short  days,  but  it  implanted  pleasant 
memories  to  endure  through  the  lifetime  of 
all  who  shared  it.  Waking  at  Fresno  on 
Thursday  the  day  was  devoted  to  visiting  and 
inspecting  the  vineyards,  including  Col.  William 
Forsyth's  raisin  vineyards  and  the  wine  cellars, 
that  abound  in  the  vicinity  of  that  enterprising 
and  go-ahead  community.  Friday  was  devoted 

to  Pasadena  and  Los  Angeles,  driving  through  and  around  the 
former,  and  at  the  latter,  where  some  of  the  party  were  entertained 
by  Mr.  D.  Freeman,  a  friend  of  Mr.  de  Young,  with  a  unique 
Spanish  breakfast,  the  delegates  dined  in  royal  style  in  the  open 
air  under  the  shadow  of  orange  and  pepper  trees  on  the  spacious 
lawns  of  Judge  Silent's  residence,  ending  the  day  with  a  formal 
banquet  at  the  Redondo  Beach  Hotel,  where  it  was  decided  by 
unanimous  vote  that  more  comfort  and  satisfaction  were  procurable 
to  the  square  inch  than  at  any  watering  place  on  the  Atlantic 
coast.  Saturday  the  orange  groves  of  Redlands  were  visited,  where 
the  roads  traversed  miles  and  miles  of  orchards  fairly  groaning 

89 


beneath  their  golden  burden  of  luscious  fruit,  the  overladen 
branches  being  sustained  by  poles  to  prevent  their  breaking.  At 
San  Bernardino  lunch  was  partaken  of  and  speeches  were  delivered, 
after  which  the  party  were  hastened  to  Riverside,  where  they 
enjoyed  a  fifteen  mile  drive  over  the  splendid  roads  and  through 
the  unspeakably  beautiful  Magnolia  Avenue,  resuming  their  journey 
at  7.30  in  the  evening.  On  Sunday  morning,  January  24th,  at 


THE   NEW   YORK    PRESS   CLUB   DELEGATES   AT   JUDGE   SILENT's,    LOS   ANGELES,    CAL. 


8.45,  the  southern  limit  of  the  journey  was  attained  when  the 
train  drew  up  at  the  depot  in  San  Diego.  A  committee  was  in 
waiting  with  a  steamboat  to  take  the  party  on  an  excursion  down 
the  Bay,  visiting  en  route  the  U.  S.  Cruiser  San  Francisco,  on  the 
invitation  of  Admiral  Brown,  and  bringing  up  at  the  Coronado 
Beach  Hotel,  where  a  delightful  lunch  was  partaken  of.  Some  of 

9o 


the  party  to  whom  steamboat  rides  and  the  quarter  decks  of  war 
vessels  were  no  particular  novelty  had  declined  the  invitation  to 
sail  on  the  Bay,  preferring  to  explore  the  features  of  interest  in 
and  around  San  Diego.  They  were  amply  repaid.  A  cable  road 
shot  them  quickly  up  to  a  lofty  summit,  from  which  a  charming 
view  was  gained  of  the  peaceful  old  Spanish  valley,  while  the 
ancient  town  lay  spread  beneath  them,  and  beyond  it  the  lovely 
Bay,  whose  unruffled  surface  was  in  peaceful  keeping  with  the 
Sabbath  stillness  that  on  every  side  prevailed.  A  short  carriage  ride 
brought  the  visitors  to  the  old  Mission,  whose  bell  has  echoed 
through  that  Valley  for  more  than  two  centuries,  and  a  little 
further  to  a  small  adobe  cottage,  immortalized  by  Helen  Hunt  as 
the  house  in  which  her  heroine,  Ramona,  was  wedded  to  her  Indian 
lover.  The  streets  of  San  Diego  were  also  quaintly  attractive,  but 
as  the  stores  were  all  closed,  the  temptations  of  their  windows  were 
a  vain  display.  Later  in  the  afternoon  a  reception  was  given  the 
visitors  in  the  San  Diego  Opera  House,  and  at  6  P.  M.  the  train 
set  out  once  more  to  cross  the  Continent,  this  time  traveling 
eastward.  Nearly  4,800  miles  had  been  already  traveled,  and  a 
week's  journey  was  still  before  them. 

In  thus  rapidly  summarizing  the  trip  through  Southern 
California  the  enjoyments  that  attended  it  have  hardly  been  hinted 
at.  The  experience  was  a  new  one  to  nearly  every  person  in  the 
party.  The  weather  was  deliciously  clear,  and  the  soft,  balmy  air 
of  that  half-tropical  region  in  the  middle  of  January,  and  the  fruits 
and  flowers  and  brilliant  foliage  that  were  found  abounding  on 
every  hand,  were  a  revelation  for  which  even  the  phenomena  they 
had  encountered  during  the  previous  ten  days  of  Pacific  Coast  life 
had  scarcely  prepared  them.  Some  of  the  more  marked  events  of 
those  four  days  of  sunshine  and  pleasure  demand  recognition.  So, 
also,  does  the  delightful  climate  that  had  favored  us  so  admirably 

91 


throughout.  California  climate  is  one  of  those  things  that  has  to 
be  experienced  to  be  appreciated,  or  even  understood.  California 
presents  all  the  features  of  the  temperate  and  the  semi-tropic 
zones.  Upon  the  mountain  heights  eternal  snow  looks  down. 
In  the  great  valleys  of  the  Santa  Clara,  Sacramento  and  San 
Joaquin,  the  flowers  ever  bloom.  Upon  the  coast  the  chilly  sea 
breeze  blows.  In  the  interior  valleys,  summer  suns  descend  and 
an  almost  tropical  warmth  exists  which  causes  vegetation  to  grow 
in  a  way  that  is  wonderful  to  behold.  The  famous  Japan  Current, 
anti-type  of  the  Atlantic  Gulf  Stream,  sweeps  the  coast,  and  in 
winter  its  warm  breath  extends  inland  to  the  Sierra  Nevadas, 
making  the  weather  mild  and  the  rains  warm.  Fogs  seldom  exist, 
except  along  the  coast.  There  are  a  few  hot  days  in  summer, 
we  were  told,  in  the  interior,  but  the  nights  are  nearly  always 
cool  and  pleasant.  During  nine  months  in  the  year  the  weather 
is  about  perfect.  There  are  only  two  seasons  in  California,  the 
wet  and  the  dry.  The  rainfall  in  winter  is  very  light,  and  rain  in 
summer  or  between  April  and  November  is  hardly  known.  The 
dry  atmosphere  makes  the  heat  of  the  interior  valleys  bearable,  and 
it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  a  temperature  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
degrees  higher  than  that  to  which  one  is  accustomed  in  the  East 
may  be  borne  with  comfort.  There  is  scarcely  a  day  in  the  year 
when  the  weather  is  so  warm  or  so  cold  as  to  prevent  a  person  in 
good  health  from  working  out  in  the  open  air.  Dr.  Remondino, 
of  San  Diego,  in  his  instructive  book  on  "  The  Mediterranean 
Shores  of  America,"  discussing  Southern  California  in  relation  to 
its  climatic,  physical  and  meteorological  conditions,  finds  there  six 
distinct  classes  of  climate,  all  having  their  characteristic  therapeutic 
advantages.  "  These  are  the  purely  insular  climate,  the  peninsular, 
the  coast,  the  foot-hill  and  valley,  ranging  in  elevation  from  200 
to  2,500  feet  above  sea  level,  the  mountain  climate,  from  2,500 

92 


feet  to  9,000  feet  elevation,  and  the  desert  climate,  from  360  feet 
below  sea  level  to  2,500  feet  above."  With  such  a  well  defined 
variety  to  select  from  everybody  ought  to  be  accommodated  to  his 
taste  and  satisfaction.  A  special  characteristic  also,  of  the  Southern 
California  climate  is  its  tonic,  bracing  quality.  It  has  often  been 
compared  to  that  of  Italy,  but  the  comparison  is  inexact,  for  it 
is  wholly  devoid  of  the  unpleasant  peculiarities  of  the  Italian 


UTILIZING    A    BRIEF    HALT    AT    A    WINE    HOUSE    NEAR    FRESNO,    CAL. 


climate,  which  latter  has  the  pernicious  effect  of  indisposing  people 
to  physical  or  mental  effort.  In  California  life  is  wide-awake  and 
active,  laziness  is  exotic.  Well  has  it  been  said  that  "in  that 
refulgent  summer  it  is  a  luxury  to  draw  the  breath  of  life." 

Returning    to    our    entrance    into     Southern     California    after 
leaving    Sacramento,  the    insight    into    grape    culture    and    the  wine 

93 


industry  gained  at  Fresno  was  of  great  interest.  The  party, 
breaking  into  several  detachments,  visited,  as  has  been  stated,  all 
the  leading  vineyards  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  recollection  of  the 
hospitality  they  received  at  Barton's,  Woodvvorth's,  Egger's,  Eisen's 
and  Forsyth's  will  long  be  cherished.  Fresno,  with  its  crowded 
streets  and  busy  stores,  impressed  them  as  a  wonderfully  active 
place,  especially  when  they  learned  that  it  had  grown  from  600  to 
14,000  in  population  during  the  past  ten  years.  After  the 
luncheon  at  the  Hughes  House,  Mr.  Marcus  Pollasky  announced 
that  there  was  to  be  no  speech-making  on  that  occasion,  whereupon 
an  hour  or  so  was  devoted  to  making  speeches.  Dr.  Chester 
Rowell  welcomed  the  guests  in  a  very  neat  address,  and,  after  the 
statistics  of  Fresno  County  had  been  exhaustively  rehearsed,  Mr. 
M.  H.  de  Young  gave  the  citizens  of  Fresno  some  practical  advice 
relative  to  developing  the  county's  resources  by  introducing  canals 
and  rendering  the  San  Joaquin  River  navigable,  which  advice  was 
received  with  manifest  approval.  Messrs.  Wilde,  Martin  and  Page 
also  addressed  the  gathering.  One  distinctive  feature  of  Fresno  in 
which  its  people  take  justifiable  pride  is  its  claim  to  the  possession 
of  "the  finest  opera  house  of  any  city  in  America  of  less  than 
100,000  population."  An  inspection  of  the  establishment  gave  the 
impression  that  the  claim  is  not  an  idle  boast.  An  impromptu 
entertainment  was  at  once  started,  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie  leading  the 
way  with  a  recitation  of  the  stirring  Columbus  ode  "  Sail  On," 
followed  by  Miss  Kate  Field  and  Marshall  P.  Wilder. 

At  Pasadena,  on  the  following  day,  new  charms  were  brought 
to  view.  Orange  groves  loaded  down  with  golden  spheres  stretched 
out  on  every  hand,  dotted  with  cottages  and  lawns,  and  back  of 
all  snow-capped  mountains.  Riding  in  any  direction  every  turn  in 
the  road  revealed  new  beauties.  Pasadena  is  the  chosen  home  of 
the  wealthy,  and  the  residences  and  surroundings  bear  evidence  of 

94 


large  purses  and  lavish  expenditure.  The  profusion  of  flowers 
threw  the  visitors  from  the  Atlantic  Coast  into  .ecstasies.  The 
handsome  cottages  were  embowered  in  the  dark  green  foliage  of 
orange  trees,  and  the  gardens  were  resplendent  with  brilliant 
flowers  of  every  possible  hue.  The  valley  view  from  the  Raymond 
Hotel,  stretching  from  the  distant  ocean  to  the  mountains,  is  one 
of  surpassing  beauty.  The  party  were  fortunate  in  having  selected 
the  winter  season  for  visiting  Southern  California,  for  at  that  time 
of  the  year  that  region  is  most  charming,  and  nature's  gifts  are 
most  abundantly  exhibited.  Mr.  Charles  F.  Nordhoff,  of  the  New 

York  Herald,  whom  we  met  later 
at.  the  Coronado  Beach  Hotel, 
relates  the  following  experience 
of  a  January  day  in  that  region : 

"As  I  drove  out  from  Los 
Angeles  into  the  country  on  a 
January  morning  with  a  friend, 
we  met  a  farmer  coming  into 
town  with  a  market  wagon  of 
produce.  It  was  a  cloudless, 
warm,  sunny  day.  The  farmer's 
little  girl  sat  on  the  seat  with 
him,  a  chubby,  blue-eyed  little 
tot,  with  her  sun  bonnet  half 

hiding  her  curls,  and  a  shawl,  which  her  careful  mother  had  wrapped 
about  her  shoulders,  carelessly  flung  aside.  To  me,  fresh  from  the 
snowy  plains  and  Sierras,  and  with  the  chill  breath  of  winter  still 
on  me,  this  was  a  pleasing  and  novel  sight ;  but  the  contents  of 
the  man's  wagon  were  still  more  startling  to  my  Northern  eyes. 
He  was  carrying  to  market  oranges,  pumpkins,  a  lamb,  corn,  green 
peas  in  their  pods,  sugar-cane,  lemons  and  strawberries.  What  a 
mixture  of  Northern  and  Southern  products !  What  an  odd  and 
wonderful  January  gathering  in  a  farmer's  wagon  !  .  .  .  All  the 
fence  corners,  where  there  were  fences,  were  crowded  with  the 
castor  oil  plant,  which  is  here  a  perennial,  twenty  feet  high,  a  weed 
whose  brilliant  crimson  seed  pods  shine  like  jewels  in  the  sunlight. 


A    I'ASAUENA    RESIDENCE. 


95 


Below  us  as  we  looked  off  a  hill-top  lay  the  suburbs  of  Los 
Angeles,  green  with  the  deep  green  of  orange  groves  and  golden 
to  the  nearer  view  with  their  abundant  fruit.  Twenty-one  different 
kinds  of  flowers  were  blooming  in  the  open  air  in  a  friend's  garden 
in  the  town  this  January  day ;  among  them  the  tube-rose,  the 
jessamine  and  the  fragrant  stock  or  gillyflower,  which  has  here  a 
woody  stalk,  often  four  inches  in  diameter,  and  is,  of  course,  a 
perennial.  The  heliotrope  is  trained  over  piazzas  to  the  height  of 
twenty  feet,  and,  though  the  apple  and  pear  orchards,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  almond  and  English  walnut,  will  continue  bare  for 
some  time,  and  the  vineyards,  just  getting  pruned,  look  dreary, 
the  vegetable  gardens  are  green  as  with  us  in  June,  and  men  and 
boys  are  gathering  the  orange  crop." 

The  al  fresco  dinner  under  the  pepper  trees  on  Judge  Silent's 
lawn  in  Los  Angeles  was  a  charming  affair,  and,  with  its  numerous 
apparent  incongruities  to  the  Eastern  minds  of  season  and  locality, 
would  have  stood  for  an  Arabian  Night's  entertainment,  held  in 
the  daytime.  Oriental  magic  could  have  easily  overcome  that 
latter  trifling  incompatibility.  Los  Angeles  is  said  to  owe  much 
of  its  attractiveness  to  its  agreeable  surroundings.  Certainly  the 
afternoon  and  evening  spent  at  Rodondo  Beach  tended  to  verify 
that  assertion.  Among  the  profusion  of  flowers  at  the  hotel, 
which  the  visitors  were  graciously  invited  to  help  themselves  to, 
were  some  of  the  most  splendid  roses  seen  on  the  entire  trip. 
The  view  from  the  hotel  porch  of  the  sun  setting  on  the  Pacific 
horizon  was  a  fitting  termination  to  a  day  that  had  been  replete 
with  brilliant  and  picturesque  incident.  Los  Angeles  is  situated 
nearly  in  the  center  of  one  of  the  richest  valleys  on  this  continent. 
All  the  citrus  family  flourishes  there  to  the  highest  perfection,  and 
horticulture  and  agriculture  are  sustained  to  a  degree  unsurpassed 
anywhere.  Between  five  and  six  thousand  carloads  of  oranges,  we 
were  informed,  are  annually  exported  thence  to  Eastern  markets, 
and  an  equal  amount  of  transportation  is  required  for  carrying  the 
crops  of  dried  fruits,  raisins,  walnuts,  wines  and  potatoes.  In 

96 


addition  to  its  agricultural  capability,  the  region  abounds  in  other 
resources,  and  it  is  claimed  that  within  thirty  miles  of  Los  Angeles 
there  are  exhaustless  reservoirs  of  coal  oil,  immense  petroleum  and 
asphalt  beds,  rich  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  extensive  tin  deposits 
and  a  wide  range  of  valuable  metals.  With  all  those  natural 


WATCHING    THE    SUN    SET    IN    THE    1'ACIbTC    OCEAN    AT     RK.lKJNDl)     I1EACH. 


endowments,  it  might  compete  for  the  championship  with  "The 
Happy  Valley"  which  the  imagination  of  Di.  Johnson  created  for 
the  admiration  of  the  youth  of  several  generations  ago,  before  the 
advent  of  Horatio  Alger,  Jr.,  or  the  evolution  of  the  dime  novel. 


97 


The  day  at  Redlands  was  one  of  California's  perfect  winter 
days,  too  warm  for  wraps,  but  thoroughly  delightful.  As  the 
visitors  were  driven  through  the  stretches  of  orange  groves  they 
were  profuse  in  their  expressions  of  delight,  but  when  Canyon 
Crest  was  reached,  and  the  entire  valley  spread  before  the  vision 
for  miles  and  miles,  the  snow-covered  tops  of  Old  Baldy,  Grayback 
and  San  Jacinto  glistening  in  the  warm  sunlight,  they  began  to 
realize  the  full  force  of  California's  wondrous  scenery  and  climate, 
and  were  silent  in  their  admiration.  When  the  carriages  returned 
to  the  depot  they  were  laden  with  flowers  and  oranges,  and 
Redlands  was  pronounced  the  choicest  section  of  California  that 
the  party  had  seen,  that,  of  course,  being  the  regular  verdict 
passed  upon  each  successive  town  they  visited.  Arriving  at  San 
Bernardino — "  San  Berdoo,"  as  the  inhabitants  call  it — the  Eastern 
guests  were  given  a  drive  over  the  city,  and  were  afterward 
entertained  with  a  banquet  at  the  Stewart  hotel,  at  which  150 
persons  sat  down.  After  the  solids  had  disappeared,  Judge  George 
E.  Otis  welcomed  the  party  in  a  brief  speech,  and  introduced 
Judge  Willis,  who  responded  to  the  toast  "The  Press."  He  was 
followed  by  W.  A.  Harris,  in  a  neat  and  short  address,  and  Judge 
Rowell,  who  gave  some  statistics  regarding  the  county.  Marshall 
P.  Wilder  told  a  story  or  two,  and  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie  recited  a 
poem.  The  banquet  was  hurried,  but  successful.  The  train  left 
San  Bernardino  at  2.30  P.  M.  for  Riverside.  In  the  San  Bernardino 
range  of  mountains  in  this  region,  on  the  summit  of  the  Grayback, 
is  an  active  glacier  of  dimensions  little  inferior  to  some  of  the 
minor  glaciers  of  the  Alps  and  the  Andes.  The  existence  of  this 
stupendous  marvel  of  moving  ice,  after  having  been  maintained 
but  not  generally  believed  for  half  a  century,  was,  in  June,  1892, 
verified  by  an  expedition  of  scientists  from  Los  Angeles,  who 
discovered  at  a  height  of  over  10,000  feet  a  frozen  river  a  mile 

98 


long  and  twenty-two  feet  in  depth  that  is  crushing  down  towards 
the  valley  at  the  rate  of  about  forty-seven  feet  yearly.  The  day  was 
wound  up  at  Riverside,  a  town  then  of  about  6,000  inhabitants, 
and  possibly  by  the  time  of  this  writing  having  twice  that  number, 
so  rapidly  do  California  communities  grow  when  they  once  take  a 
start.  The  town  owes  its  existence  and  prosperity  wholly  to 
irrigation,  the  water  of  the  Santa  Ana  River  having  been 
distributed  over  an  area  of  about  fifty-two  square  miles,  converting 
an  arid  desert  into  an  Eden.  Riverside  is  peculiarly  an  orange 
city.  It  covers  a  large  plateau  for  the  most  part  unbroken  by 
hill  or  ravine.  Some  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  acres  of  this  land 
have  been  brought  under  cultivation,  about  fifteen  thousand  acres 
being  devoted  to  citrus  fruits.  The  land  is  subdivided  and  owned 
in  small  holdings  of  from  five  to  twenty  acres  each,  and  orchard 
flanks  orchard  in  solid  phalanx  for  miles  in  all  directions.  One 
vast  forest  of  orange  trees  covers  the  plain,  unbroken,  in  most 
part,  save  by  streets  or  the  small  plats  devoted  to  residences  and 
ornamental  shrubbery.  Magnolia  avenue  extends  for  many  miles, 

being  a  double  drive  125  feet 
in  width,  with  rows  of  ever- 
green shade  trees  in  the  center 
and  on  either  side.  Other 
streets  in  all  other  cities  fade 
in  comparison  with  this.  The 
drive  that  afternoon  through 
Magnolia  avenue  was  most 
charming.  On  returning  to 
the  depot  specimens  were  ob- 
tained of  genuine  "American 

tin  "  from  the  near-by  Temescal  mines,  and  for  days  afterward  the  cars 
were  decorated  with  branches  of  Riverside  oranges.  Twelve  hours 


THE    CORONADO    HOTEL,    NEAR    SAN    DIEGO,    CAL. 


99 


on  the  cars  brought  the  party  to  San  Diego,  with  the  consequences 
already  briefly  related.  The  Coronado  Beach  Hotel  is  probably 
the  largest  caravansary  in  America  ;  and  all  its  appointments  are 
most  luxurious,  and  to  travelers  on  the  wing,  as  we  were,  most 
temptingly  inviting.  After  lunching  there,  the  party  disbanded  for 
a  short  time,  some  going  to  the  swimming  baths,  others  to  the  ball- 
room to  listen  to  the  music  of  the  U.  S.  S.  San  Francisco's  band,  and 
later  the  entire  party  was  formally  escorted  through  the  hotel  and 
grounds.  They  were  surprised  and  delighted.  Of  course,  in  such 
a  hasty  inspection  only  the  more  striking  features  of  the  place  were 
seen,  but  they  fully  bore  out  the  description  Charles  Dudley 
Warner  gives  of  the  Coronado  in  his  book,  "  The  American 
Italy."  Mr.  Warner  says  : 

"  The  stranger,  when  he  first  comes  upon  this  novel  hotel  and 
this  marvelous  scene  of  natural  and  created  beauty,  is  apt  to  exhaust 
his  superlatives.  I  hesitate  to  attempt  to  describe  this  hotel,  this 
airy  and  picturesque  and  half-bizarre  wooden  creation  of  the 
architect.  Taking  it  and  its  situation  together,  I  know  nothing 
else  in  the  world  with  which  to  compare  it,  and  I  have  never  seen 
any  other  which  so  surprised  at  first,  that  so  improved  on  a  two 
weeks'  acquaintance,  and  that  has  left  in  the  mind  an  impression 
so  entirely  agreeable.  It  covers  about  four  and  a  half  acres  of 
ground,  including  an  inner  court  of  about  an  acre,  the  rich  made 
soil  of  which  is  raised  to  the  level  of  the  main  floor.  The  house 
surrounds  this,  in  the  Spanish  mode  of  building,  with  a  series  of 
galleries,  so  that  most  of  the  suites  of  rooms  have  a  double 
outlook,  one  upon  this  lovely  garden,  the  other  upon  the  ocean  or 
the  harbor.  The  effect  of  this  interior  court  or  patio  is  to  give 
gaiety  and  an  air  of  friendliness  to  the  place,  brilliant  as  it  is  with 
flowers  and  climbing  vines ;  and  when  the  royal  and  date  'palms 
that  are  vigorously  thriving  in  it  attain  their  growth  it  will  be 
magnificent.  Big  hotels  and  caravansaries  are  usually  tiresome, 
unfriendly  places  ;  and  if  I  should  lay  too  much  stress  upon  the 
vast  dining-room  (which  has  a  floor  area  of  10,000  feet,  without 
post  or  pillar),  or  the  beautiful  breakfast  room,  or  the  circular 
ball-room  (which  has  an  area  of  11,000  feet,  with  its  timber  roof 


open  to  the  lofty  observatory),  or  the  music-room,  billiard-room 
for  ladies,  the  reading-rooms  and  parlors,  the  pretty  gallery 
overlooking  the  spacious  office  rotunda,  and  then  say  that  the 
whole  is  illuminated  with  electric  lights,  and  capable  of  being 
heated  to  any  temperature  desired,  I  might  convey  a  false 
impression  as  to  the  actual  comfort  and  homelikeness  of  this 
charming  place.  On  the  seaside  the  broad  galleries  of  each  story 
are  shut  in  by  glass,  which  can  be  opened  to  admit,  or  shut  to 
exclude,  the  fresh  ocean  breeze.  Whatever  the  temperature 
outside,  those  great  galleries  are  always  agreeable  for  lounging  or 
promenading.  For  me,  I  never  tire  of  the  sea  and  its  changing 
color  and  movement.  If  this  great  house  were  filled  with  guests, 
so  spacious  are  its  lounging  places,  I  should  think  it  would  never 
appear  to  be  crowded  ;  and  if  it  were  nearly  empty,  so  admirably 
are  the  rooms  contrived  for  family  life,  it  will  not  seem  lonesome. 
1  shall  add  that  the  management  is  of  the  sort  that  makes  the 
guests  feel  at  home  and  at  rest.  Flowers,  brought  in  from  the 
gardens  and  nurseries,  are  everywhere  in  profusion — on  the  dining 
tables,  in  the  rooms,  all  about  the  house.  So  abundantly  are  they 
produced  that  no  amount  of  culling  seems  to  make  an  impression 
upon  their  mass." 

After  inspecting  the  hotel,  the  League  party  were  re-escorted 
across  the  Bay  to  San  Diego,  and  were  taken  on  a  ride  about  the 
city  and  out  on  the  hills.  Fisher's  opera  house  was  thrown  open 
for  their  inspection  and  admiration.  A  reception  at  the  parlors  of 
the  Hotel  Brewster  having  been  announced  for  five  o'clock,  all 
assembled  there  at  that  hour,  where  they  met  the  representative 
people  of  the  city.  One  of  the  most  pleasing  features  of  the 
reception,  though  entirely  impromptu,  was  the  introduction  of  the 
newsboys  by  Captain  Friend.  The  boys  listened  with  marked 
attention  to  the  remarks  of  Miss  Kate  Field  and  Mr.  de  Young. 
At  5.30  the  visitors  left  the  Brewster  for  the  train,  and  on  their 
arrival  they  found  the  newsboys  arranged  in  line  at  the  station, 
who  received  them  with  cheers.  Miss  Kate  Field  then  demanded 
the  boutonieres  of  the  party,  and  off  they  came  from  broadcloth  and 


satin,  and  with  her  own  hands  Miss  Field  pinned  them  on  the 
little  fellows'  jackets,  after  which  graceful  act,  which  set  the 
urchins  to  grinning  like  Cheshire  cats,  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie 
addressed  the  boys  briefly,  but  feelingly,  and  promised  to  "write 
up "  the  reception  they  had  given  the  Eastern  travelers.  She  was 
followed  by  Mr.  de  Young,  who  gave  the  lads  a  fatherly  talk, 
which  seemed  to  impress  them.  As  the  train  moved  out  from  the 
depot  the  crowd  on  the  platform  cheered  to  the  echo  and  was 
vigorously  answered  by  the  departing  visitors,  the  ladies  joining  in 
waving  their  handkerchiefs.  That  was  our  final  adieu  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  to  the  garden  region  of  Southern  California.  Our  faces 
were  now  set  toward  the  Atlantic. 


102 


CHAPTER  iv. 


THE  JOURNEY  HOME. 


N  LEAVING  San  Diego,  on  the  night  of  January 
24th,  to  set  out  across  the  continent  directly  for 
home,  we  took  our  leave  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  de 
Young,  who  intended  to  remain  a  short  time  at 

Coronado  Beach    before  returning  to  San  Francisco. 

Mr.  Welshons,  of  Pittsburg,  also  left  us  at  this  point, 

intending  to  extend  his  journey  to  Oregon  before 
returning,  and  Mr.  Koenig,  of  Chicago,  likewise 
abandoned  us  here,  as  he  contemplated  taking  ship  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands.  It  was  with  no  genuine  good  grace  that  the  party  turned 
their  backs  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where  they  had  been  so  cordially 
received  and  so  magnificently  entertained.  It  was  hard  to  realize 
that  only  thirteen  days  had  elapsed  since  California  was  entered  at 
Auburn,  so  many  and  so  marked  had  been  the  events  in  the 
interval.  This  was  the  third  Sunday  away  from  home,  the  first 
having  been  spent  in  crossing  the  Rocky  Mountains  at  Leadville  and 
Glenwood,  and  the  second  at  Santa  Cruz  and  San  Jose.  The 
next  was  to  bring  us  back  to  New  York.  Soon  after  leaving 
San  Diego  we  were  regaled  with  a  treat  specially  gotten  up  for 
the  League  party  by  our  indefatigable  hosts  of  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  &  Santa  Fe"  Railroad,  acting  in  collusion  with  the  ever 
wide-awake  Jerome.  Arrangements  had  been  made  in  advance  for 


103 


illuminating  the  old  San  Juan  Capistrano  Mission  building,  situated 
in  the  Santa  Ana  valley,  about  twenty-five  miles  east  of  San  Diego. 
This  old  church  had  been  erected  about  150  years  previously  by 
pious  Spanish  monks,  who  had  learned,  through  some  method  of 
Castilian  blarney,  to  overcome  the  inertia  of  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  that  region  and  induce  them  to  actually  work,  and 
the  walls  of  adobe,  or  sun-dried  bricks,  seemed  massive  enough  to 
have  defied  the  elements  for  centuries  had  there  not  unluckily  come 
along  an  earthquake  in  December,  1812,  which  destroyed  the 
structure,  besides  killing  thirty  of  its  inmates.  The  mishap, 
however,  heightened  the  present  picturesqueness  of  the  scene,  as  in 
the  inky  blackness  of  the  night  we  viewed  the  shattered  walls  and 
the  remains  of  the  lofty  arches  by  the  glaring  light  of  a  huge 
bonfire  that  the  devotees  in  charge  had  prepared  at  the  instigation 
of  the  railroad  officials.  The  effect  in  behalf  of  a.-sthetie 
satisfaction  produced  by  seismic  disturbance  was  impressively 
illustrated,  and  might  suggest  a  text  for  some  art  editor  to 
expatiate  upon  to  advantage,  as  object  lessons  in  that  special 
branch  of  culture  are  frequently  obtainable.  Some  time  was  spent 
at  San  Capistrano  exploring  the  ruins,  and  examining  the  chapel 
that  has  been  refitted  for  religious  purposes,  and  the  few  other 
apartments  which  were  sufficiently  preserved  to  indicate  the  original 
majesty  of  the  edifice.  It  is  gratifying  to  record  here  the  fact 
that  the  old  San  Capistrano  Mission  building  has,  since  the  date 
of  our  visit,  been  taken  in  charge  by  the  Historical  Society  of 
Southern  California,  and  is  to  be  hereafter  protected  from  the 
combined  ravages  of  decay  and  relic-hunting  vandals.  A  few 
weeks  subsequent  to  the  passage  of  the  Press  Club  League,  the 
Society  named  sent  a  party  of  discreet  persons  to  thoroughly 
inspect  the  condition  of  the  structure,  and  they  found  that  a 
comparatively  small  expenditure  would  suffice  to  preserve  it  for 

104 


many  years  to  come.  They  reported  on  their  return  that  "  the 
vastness  of  the  old  Mission  and  the  uniqueness  of  the  architecture 
were  a  surprise  to  many.  It  was  found  that  the  large  brick 
arches  in  the  east  and  south  walls  of  the  interior  court-yard  were 
still  standing  almost  entire,  while  about  one-half  of  the  north  side 
remains.  The  front  archways  to  the  main  building  are  also  in  a 
fair  state  of  preservation,  and  the  portion  still  occupied  as  a  chapel 
and  residence  of  the  priest,  with  its  coat  of  whitewash,  presents  a 
neat  appearance.  Of  course,  the  main  edifice  which  was  destroyed 
by  the  earthquake  in  1812  is  almost  in  complete  decay,  but  enough 
remains  of  the  walls  to  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  character  of  the, 
for  that  time,  magnificent  structure.  The  unused  rooms  of  the  old 
building  have  a  musty,  sickening  smell,  that  is  almost  stifling.  The 
little  chapel  in  use  is  sweet  and  clean,  having  but  lately  been 
renovated  and  repaired.  Ancient  oil  paintings  and  statues  are 
scattered  about,  as  well  as  furniture  and  altar  furnishings  brought 
from  Spain  more  than  a  century  ago.  There  are  candelabra  of 
solid  silver,  and  massive  sacred  emblems  of  pure  gold.  The  old 
bells  (five  in  number,  one  of  them  dated  1726)  still  hang  in  their 
places  and  act  as  solemn  monitors  to  all  hearers  of  their  tones,  as 
in  the  palmy  days  of  yore.  A  picket  fence  has  been  put  around 
the  front  of  the  building  to  keep  cattle  away,  and  a  little  cement 
here  and  there,  and  some  new  tiles  on  the  roof  in  spots,  will  keep 
the  building  in  repair  a  long  time." 

The  next  morning,  January  25th,  we  found  ourselves  on  the 
Mojave  Desert.  It  must  have  been  a  most  discouraging  region  in 
which  to  build  a  railroad,  but  the  words  Santa  Fd  mean  "  Holy 
Faith,"  and  the  projectors  of  the  road  that  was  conveying  us  must 
certainly  have  been  inspired  by  the  significance  of  the  phrase.  For 
miles,  and  hundreds  of  miles,  the  road  runs  through  an  arid 
cactus  desert,  dusty  and  repellant  to  the  eyes  and  other  senses. 


A      MOIIAVK     IIKI.I.K. 


Along    a    large    portion    of    the    route    that    day    we    passed    by   a 

succession  of  extinct  volcanos,  through  vast  lava  fields,  whose  hard 

material  had  been  worn  by  the  action  of 
the  elements,  or  possibly  by  the  erosive 
action  of  some  ancient  inland  sea,  into  all 
imaginable  and  unimaginable  shapes.  The 
grotesque  formations  that  line  the  river 
beds  of  the  Northwest,  through  the  region 
which  General  Hazen  immortalized  as  the 
"  Great  Uncultivable  American  Desert,"  and 
known  locally  in  those  regions  as  "  Bad 
Lands,"  were  vividly  suggested  by  the 
strange  and  weird  shapes  that  had  been 
assumed  by  these  remains  of  ancient  vol- 
canic action,  recalling  General  Sully's  epito- 

mization    of    the     Terres    Mativaises    as 

"  Hell,    with    the    fires    out."        In     many 

places,  seen  at  a  distance  lining  the  hori- 
zon of  that  dreary  desert,  and  even  closer 

by  as  we  sped  rapidly  past,  the  eye  seemed 

to  dwell  upon  long  ranges  of  human  struct- 
ures, forts  and  castles,  and  towers  with 

minarets,    and    formidable    walled    cities. 

The    impression    of   human  agency  in  their 

contrivance  was  pervading    and    irresistible. 

About  noon  the  train   was  stopped  to  allow 

a  confab  with  a  band  of  Indians,  the  most 

squalid,    abject    and    repulsive    masters    of 

the    soil,    probably,    to    be    encountered    on 

this  continent.       Their   long    hair,  ignorant 

of  combs,  hung  over    their   low    foreheads,  covering  their  unwashed 

1 06 


A    MOHAVE     BOW. 


faces  and  their  eyes,  and  giving  them  a  fierce,  animal  appearance. 
The  only  sign  of  genuine  intelligence  they  displayed  during  our 
brief  interview  with  them  was  their  emphatic  disinclination  to  be 
made  the  victims  of  amateur  f  photographers.  These  savages  were 
reported  to  make  their  principal  diet  upon  grasshoppers,  and, 
judging  from  the  proximity  of  their  bones  to  the  surface,  their 
supplies  must  have  been  short  that  season.  At  i  p.  M.  we  crossed, 
at  the  Needles,  from  California  into  Arizona,  and  there  again  we 
stopped  for  some  time  to  interview  a  party  of  Mojave  Indians 
who  were  lounging  about  the  station  to  give  us  a  welcome  and 

to  sell  bows  and  pottery.  The 
men  were  tall,  and  not  without 
some  semblance  to  good  looks, 
a  quality  of  which  the  less  than 
half-clad  squaws  were  utterly 
destitute.  Time  was,  once, 
when  the  Mojaves  were  famous 
for  their  bravery  and  prowess ; 
now  their  leading  characteristics 
are  indolence  and  vice.  A 
member  of  our  party,  engaging 

in  conversation  with  one  of  the  few  white  men  that  were  lounging 
about  the  station,  drew  from  that  worthy,  a  very  good  looking 
man,  a  gambler  by  profession,  the  following  account  of  the 
Indians:  "We  had  some  trouble  with  them  at  first,  because  they 
insisted  in  coming  to  town  dressed  wholly  in  their  conscious 
innocence  ;  but  we  finally  got  together  enough  second-hand  clothes 
to  make  them  fairly  respectable,  though  far  from  decent.  They  do 
the  coarse  work  about  the  town,  and  make  enough  to  live  on." 
Apparently,  they  need  as  little  food  as  raiment.  So  through  the 
alkali  dust  and  amidst  wreckage  of  pre-historic  ages  we  sped 


MOHAVE     PEULERS     AT     THE     NEEDLES. 


I07 


steadily  Eastward  throughout  that  and  the  following  day,  until  at 
1.30  P.  M.,  on  January  26th,  we  were  afforded  an  opportunity  for 
enjoying  one  of  the  most  interesting  experiences  of  the  whole 
homeward  journey.  The  train  was  stopped  at  a  village  inhabited 
by  Laguna  Pueblo  Indians.  This  unique  settlement  was  composed 
of  a  series  of  adobe  structures,  planted  on  a  hillside,  and  built  one 
above  the  other  in  terraces  like  the  steps  of  an  enormous  stairway. 
As  originally  built  they  had  no  doors,  access  to  the  interiors  being 
gained  only  by  climbing  to  the  roofs  with  ladders,  and  descending 
in  like  manner  through  trap 
doors.  The  houses  in  that 
little  community  constitute  one 
of  the  greatest  archaeological 
curiosities  of  North  America, 
as  they  are  accepted  by  ethnolo- 
gists as  having  pertained  to 
some  semi-civilized  people  that 
existed,  and  occupied  the  soil, 
and  disappeared,  wholly  prior,  it 
is  asserted,  to  even  the  advent 
of  the  red  aborigines.  The 

Laguna  Indians  of  the  present  time  have  traits  and  habits  that 
distinguish  them  from  all  other  tribes  of  Indians,  their  persistent 
living  in  houses  being  one  of  the  most  marked  of  these.  They 
have  improved  upon  the  plans  of  the  original  architects  of  the 
place  by  piercing  the  walls  of  each  tier  of  buildings  with  doorways, 
and  our  party,  visiting  the  interiors  of  these  curious  relics  of 
pre-historic  antiquity,  were  agreeably  surprised  at  the  cleanliness  and 
tidy  order  that  everywhere  prevailed.  We  visited  them  in  their 
residences,  inspected  their  church,  avoided  their  mangy  dogs,  and 
pretty  nearly  denuded  the  place  of  all  the  pottery  it  contained, 


THE     ANCIENT     PUEBLO     TOWN     OF     LAGUNA,     N.    M. 


108 


buying  for  small  sums  some  very  neat  and  curious  specimens 
of  Indian  handicraft,  quaintly  designed.  The  conventional  price 
asked  for  a  clay  image  the  size  of  one's  thumb,  or  for  a 
bowl  of  the  same  material  big  enough  for  a  Press  Club 
punch-bowl,  was  a  quarter  of  a  dollar,  or,  in  the  vernacular  of 
the  Arizona  desert,  and  of  the  West  generally,  "  two-bits."  After 
hearing  this  latter  phrase  constantly  repeated,  evidently  the  sum 
total  of  Laguna's  acquaintance  with  commercial  Anglo  Saxon,  it 
was  quite  startling  when  a  comely  maiden,  modest  and  neatly 
attired,  turned  to  our  party  and  said  in  excellent  English,  "  I  shall 
be  very  glad  to  show  you  around."  It  proved  on  investigation 
that  this  young  daughter  of  the  desert  was  a  graduate  of  the 
Indian  school  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania.  Having  been  educated 
after  civilized  fashion  she  had  returned  to  her  tribe.  Who  knows 
what  destiny  was  before  her,  whether  she  would  succeed  in  the 
missionary  work  of  raising  her  associates  toward  the  plane  to  which 
she  herself  had  been  raised,  or  whether,  as  unfortunately  usually 
happens,  she  would  ultimately  relapse  into  their  condition  ?  Pushing 
onward  at  three  o'clock,  and  picking  up  at  some  unknown  stopping 
place  our  old  friend,  Captain  Jack  Crawford,  "The  Poet  Scout," 
we  reached  Albuquerque,  which,  at  the  depot,  presented  quite  a 
modern,  almost  an  Eastern,  appearance,  but  which,  further  on, 
when  the  Mexican  section  was  penetrated,  showed  up  in  the  light 
of  an  old  thriftless,  untidy  Mexican  settlement.  However,  the 
leaven  of  Eastern  push  has  found  its  way  there  and  the  town, 
despite  the  sharp  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two  sections,  is 
rapidly  being  Americanized.  It  contains  some  very  fine  buildings, 
notably  the  hotel  and  the  Commercial  Club,  and  a  newspaper 
office,  nearly  completed  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  besides  electric 
lights  and  national  banks.  In  New  Mexico  the  nineteenth  century 
is  still  struggling  to  get  the  better  of  fifteenth  century  sluggishness, 

109 


but  neither  the  present  nor  the  next  generation  will  witness  its 
success.  A  committee  from  the  Commercial  Club  drove  us  around 
through  this  interesting  city,  with  which  we  would  gladly  have 
become  more  familiar.  Our  time  was  brief,  however,  and  we  were 
forced  to  hurry  on,  reaching  Santa  Fe",  the  famous  capital  of  the 
territory,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  nearly  eight  hours  behind 
the  time  set  down  for  our  arrival,  owing  to  the  delays  that  grew 


STREET    SCENE    IN    SANTA    FE. — NEW    MEXICAN    WOOD    CAKKIEKS. 


out  of    the  interest  we  had  felt    in  the  several    points  at  which  we 
had  been  stopping. 

At  Santa  Fe"  the  Press  League  party  received  a  genuine 
Territorial  ovation.  The  Reception  Committee  had  joined  us  at 
Albuquerque,  and,  although  a  little  dismayed  at  the  interruption  to 
their  plans  our  tardiness  occasioned,  they  did  their  duty  as 


entertainers  most  handsomely.  A  great  crowd  was  present  at  the 
depot  on  our  arrival,  and  we  were  bundled  without  delay  into 
carriages  and  driven  rapidly  to  the  State  House,  a  splendid  building 
to  find  in  such  a  locality,  which  had  just  been  completed,  and  was 
brilliantly  illuminated  for  our  reception,  but  which  was  destined  to 
be  a  few  months  afterward  totally  destroyed  by  fire.  The  Reception 
Committee  rather  prided  themselves  on  this  building,  as  well  they 
might,  for  it  not  only  was  a  very  imposing  edifice,  but  its  whole 
cost  had  been  paid  for  out  of  Territorial  funds,  a  large  portion  of 
the  surplus  apportioned  for  that  purpose  having  actually  been 
turned  in  again  to  the  Territorial  Treasury.  The  general  circulation 
of  this  statement  made  the  New  York  delegates,  especially,  gaze 
at  one  another  in  silent,  pensive  wonderment.  Ushered  into  the 
Legislative  Chamber  on  the  upper  floor  we  found  a  large 
assemblage  awaiting  us,  in  the  galleries,  Mexicans ;  on  the  floor, 
army  officers  in  full  uniform,  mostly  pertaining  to  the  Tenth 
United  States  Infantry,  which  then  constituted  the  garrison  of 
Santa  Fe,  besides  handsome  and  handsomely  dressed  ladies  and 
Eastern  visitors.  Gov.  L.  Bradford  Prince,  erstwhile  of  Long 
Island,  made  a  very  sprightly  speech  of  welcome  to  the  party,  the 
effect  of  which  was  sensibly  heightened  by  the  commanding  figure 
and  sonorous  voice  of  the  speaker.  Then  the  Tenth  Infantry 
Band  discoursed  some  patriotic  airs,  followed  by  some  sweet  pretty 
singing  from  the  voices  of  about  fifty  Indian  girls  from  the 
neighboring  Ramona  school,  who  had  been  awaiting  our  arrival  for 
eight  hours  in  order  to  give  us  that  melodious  welcome.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  children's  singing  we  were  shown  through  the 
building  and  were  then  rapidly  transported  to  the  "  Palace,"  the 
name  which  the  ancient  edifice  occupied  by  the  Governor  of  the 
Territory  has  borne  for  many  years.  It  is  a  long,  one-story 
building  facing  the  public  square,  occupied  by  the  post-office  and 


other  government  departments,  a  number  of  apartments  in  one  end 
being  set  aside  as  the  Governor's  residence.  The  appearance  of 
this  ancient  structure  scarcely  justifies  the  conventional  suggestions 
of  its  name.  It  was  erected  in  1598,  and  has  a  certain  latter-day 
distinction  upon  which  much  stress  is  laid  in  the  circumstance  of 
its  having  been  occupied  by  General  Lew  Wallace  while  he  was 
Governor  of  New  Mexico,  in  1879  an^  1880.  It  was  in  one  of 
the  apartments  of  this  house  that  he  wrote  his  famous  novel, 
"  Ben  Hur,"  and  it  was  in  the  room  in  which  that  book  was 
written  that  the  Press  League  were  received  by  Governor  Prince 
and  his  bright  and  charming 
wife.  The  reception  was  the 
occasion  of  a  large  gathering 
of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen 
of  Santa  Fd,  including  the 
officers  of  the  Tenth  Infantry 
and  the  ladies  of  the  garrison. 
The  evening  was  passed  most 
agreeably  in  conversation  and 
in  the  examination  of  the 
multitude  of  local  curiosities 
and  old  time  prints  and 

pictures  which  Governor  Prince  has  gathered  during  his  long 
residence  in  New  Mexico,  the  Tenth  Infantry  Band  meanwhile 
discoursing  excellent  music.  Speaking  of  the  Palace,  Governor 
Prince  declared  it  to  be  the  most  interesting  place  in  the  country. 
Certainly  no  other  structure  in  America  has  such  a  history  behind 
it.  It  antedates  the  settlement  of  Jamestown  by  nine  years,  and 
that  of  Plymouth  by  twenty-two,  and  has  stood  during  the  two 
hundred  and  ninety-two  years,  since  its  erection,  as  the  living  centre 
of  everything  of  historic  importance  in  the  Southwest.  Through 


THE     PALACE,     SANTA     Ffc,     N.    M. 


all  that  long  period,  whether  under  Spanish,  Pueblo,  Mexican  or 
American  control,  it  has  been  the  seat  of  power  and  authority. 
Whether  the  ruler  was  called  Viceroy,  Captain-General,  Political 
Chief,  Department  Commander  or  Governor,  and  whether  he 
presided  over  a  kingdom,  a  province,  a  department  or  a  territory, 
this  has  been  his  official  residence.  "  From  here,"  said  Governor 
Prince,  "  Onate  started  in  1599  on  his  adventurous  expedition  to 
the  Eastern  plains;  here,  seven  years  later,  eight  hundred  Indians 


THE    OLDEST    BUILDING    IN    AMERICA,     AT    SANTA    HE,     N.    M. 


came  from  far-off  Ouivira  to  ask  aid  in  their  war  with  the  Aztecs; 
from  here,  in  1618,  Vincento  de  Salivar  set  forth  to  the  Moqui 
country,  only  to  be  turned  back  by  rumors  of  the  giants  to  be 
encountered  ;  and  from  here  Penalosa  and  his  brilliant  troop 
started,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1662,  on  their  marvelous  expedition 
to  the  Missouri ;  in  one  of  its  strong  rooms  the  commissary 
general  of  the  Inquisition  was  imprisoned  a  few  years  later  by  the 
same  Penalosa ;  within  its  walls,  fortified  as  for  a  siege,  the  bravest 


of  the  Spaniards  were  massed  in  the  revolution  of  1680;  here,  on 
the  igth  of  August  of  that  year,  was  given  the  order  to  execute 
forty-seven  Pueblo  prisoners  in  the  plaza  which  faces  the  building  ; 
here,  but  a  day  later,  was  the  sad  war  council  held  which  deter- 
mined on  the  evacuation  of  the  city  ;  here  was  the  scene  of  triumph 
of  the  Pueblo  chieftains  as  they  ordered  the  destruction  of  the 
Spanish  archives  and  the  church  ornaments  in  one  grand  conflagra- 
tion ;  here  De  Vargas,  on  September  i4th,  1692,  after  the  eleven 
hours'  combat  of  the  preceding  day,  gave  thanks  to  the  Virgin 
Mary,  to  whose  aid  he  attributed  his  triumphant  capture  of  the 
city;  here,  more  than  a  century  later,  on  March  3d,  1807,  Lieu- 
tenant Pike  was  brought  before  Governor  Alencaster  as  an  invader 
of  Spanish  soil;  here,  in  1822,  the  Mexican  standard,  with  its  eagle 
and  cactus,  was  raised  in  token  that  New  Mexico  was  no  longer  a 
dependency  of  Spain  ;  here,  on  the  succeeding  day,  Jose  Gonzales, 
a  Pueblo  Indian  of  Taos,  was  installed  as  Governor  of  New 
Mexico,  soon  after  to  be  executed  by  order  of  Armijo  ;  here,  in 
the  principal  reception  room,  on  August  12,  1846,  Captain  Cooke, 
the  American  envoy,  was  received  by  Governor  Armijo  and  sent 
back  with  a  message  of  defiance  ;  and  here,  five  days  later,  General 
Kearney  formally  took  possession  of  the  city,  and  slept,  after  his 
long  and  weary  march,  on  the  carpeted  earthen  floor  of  the  Palace." 
The  Governor  thinks  the  ultimate  use  of  the  building  should  be  as 
a  home  for  the  antiquities  of  New  Mexico.  We  slept  on  our 
train  at  the  station  that  night,  and  early  the  next  morning  we 
were  exploring  this  interesting  place  which  enjoys  the  distinction 
of  being  the  most  ancient  city  of  the  country,  and  one  of  the 
most  ancient  capitals  of  the  world.  It  is  largely  built  of  adobes, 
and  it  abounds  in  all  kinds  of  interest.  For  instance,  we  went 
into  modern  stores,  and  from  these  we  visited  the  old  San  Miguel 
church  that  retains  a  great  deal  of  the  wood  used  in  its  con- 

114 


struction  more  than  three  hundred  years  ago,  it  having  been  built 
by  the  Spaniards  in  1545.  Near  the  church  is  an  adobe  house 
reported  to  be  still  more  ancient,  being,  in  fact,  the  oldest  structure 

built  by  white  men  in  America.  Then 
we  visited  the  shops  and  laid  in  sup- 
plies of  curios,  particularly  some  very 
fine  filagree  work  in  gold  and  silver. 
Afterwards,  while  some  of  the  party 
drove  out  to  the  Ramona  school  others 
witnessed  a  meek  performance  of  guard 
mounting  at  Fort  Worth,  subsequently 
attending  a  concert  given  in  honor  by 
the  Tenth  Infantry  Band  on  the  plaza 
in  front  of  the  Palace,  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  which  we  resumed  our  places 
in  the  train,  bearing  away  with  us  as 
guests  for  the  rest  of  the  day  Governor 
and  Mrs.  Prince  and  several  Santa  Fe  gentlemen  and  ladies. 

Our  visit  to  Santa  Fe  was  marked,  on  the  previous  evening, 
by  a  little  episode  that  at  one  time  seemed  likely  to  create  "some 
excitement,  though  its  secret  was  so  carefully  guarded  that  its 
narration  in  these  pages  will  be  the  first  intimation  of  it  to  a 
majority  of  the  League  excursionists.  It  had  been  the  subject 
of  constant  regretful  comment  among  the  latter  that  the  editors 
of  Eastern  newspapers  seemed  to  have  an  entirely  inadequate 
conception  of  the  striking  character  and  brilliant  accompaniments 
of  the  journey.  With  a  view  to  rectifying  this  state  of  inappre- 
ciative  apathy,  an  active  member  of  the  party,  formerly  a  resident 
of  the  West,  organized  a  little  scheme  that  would  have  secured 
extensive  Eastern  editorial  notice  for  the  party  could  it  have 
been  successfully  carried  into  effect.  The  idea  was  original, 


THE     OLDEST     CHURCH     IN     AMERICA, 
AT     SANTA     FE,    N.    M. 


but  its  overthrow  was  aboriginal.  It  had  been  noticed  along  the 
journey  that  Marshall  P..  Wilder  was  a  source  of  much  interest 
to  the  Indians,  his  small  figure,  droll  face  and  big  laugh  attracting 
them  immediately.  They  would  often  touch  him,  and  seemed 
to  think  it  did  them  good,  calling  him  "medicine  man,  heap 
head."  When  it  was  known  we  were  to  remain  over  night  at 
Santa  Fe\  it  was  planned  to  have  a  party  of  Indians  rush  into 
the  Governor's  Palace  during  the  reception,  seixe  and  carry  off 
Marshall,  announcing  that  they  wanted  him  for  their  "  medicine 
man,"  and  escape  with  him  to  an  Indian  mud  village,  several 
miles  in  the  country,  where  he  would  have  really  experienced  a 
night  with  the  native  New.  Mexico  Indian,  with  one  white  com- 
panion, who  knew  the  chief  of  the  village.  The  loss  would 
have  been  heralded  abroad  in  the  dispatches  that  night,  and  the 
brave  searching  party  which  would  have  been  organized,  chiefly 
from  the  traveling  scribes,  armed  to  the  teeth,  would  have 
gallantly  rescued  the  little  humorist  the  next  morning  without 
bloodshed,  and  get  back  in  time  for  the  train,  covered  with  glory 
and  New  Mexico  dirt  and  dust.  Editor  Frost,  of  the  New 
Mexican,  Messrs.  Wilder,  Austin  and  Penney,  representing  the 
Associated  and  United  Press  Associations,  and  the  originator  of 
the  idea,  were  the  only  ones  who  knew  the  secret.  The  Governor 
was  counted  on  to  get  out  the  troops,  innocently,  of  course,  and 
the  idea  was  to  be.'  worked  clear  through  with  the  four  above 
mentioned  sworn  to  secrecy  for  one  year.  But,  alas ;  the 
Indians  were  lacking,  except  a  few  wanderers,  who  looked  so 
hungry  and  dirty  that  they  challenged  pity  instead  of  suggesting 
thoughts  of  danger.  Ten  o'clock  came  and  the  band  of  Indians 
was  not  forthcoming.  Still,  the  schemers  waited  and  hoped, 
with  scouts  out  in  search  of  fierce  red  men.  Then,  finally,  Wilder 
began  to  object.  He  thought  it  would  be  best  for  him  to  first 

116 


telegraph  his  father  in  New  York,  so  that  he  would  receive  the 
dispatch  before  he  read  the  awful  news  in  the  morning  papers, 
explaining  that  while  Marshall  had  been  captured  by  the  Indians,  it 
was  "all  right,"  and  they  would  let  him  go  after  he  had  told  a 
few  stories  and  taught  them  some  tricks  they  already  knew  better 
than  he  did  himself.  At  1 1  o'clock  (which  was  i  A.  M.  in  New 
York)  the  Indian  organizers  gave  it  up,  and  thus  a  startling 
sensation  was  spoiled.  But  if  a  band  of  red  men  had  happened 

along  that  night  they  would 
have  received  a  welcome  that 
would  have  startled  their  native 
minds  and  appeased  their  most 

Wk dE-IV"  £?_j£H   fik  thirsty  palates.     No  matter  what 

their  tribe,  the  New  Mexico 
editor  exacted  a  promise  that 
they  should  be  called  Apaches, 
for  he  didn't  like  Apaches. 

We  arrived  in  the  after- 
noon at  the  "city"  of  Las 
Vegas.  This  commercial  center 
of  New  Mexico,  of  which  we 
enjoyed  a  hasty  view,  rejoices 
in  six  bright  and  able  news- 
papers, and  in  a  city  hall,  the  only  municipal  building  in  the 
territory.  It  lies  on  both  sides  of  the  Rio  Gallinas,  which  is 
spanned  by  a  substantial  iron  bridge.  The  place  bears  numerous 
evidences  of  a  go-ahead  spirit  among  its  people,  the  streets  and 
residences  being  lighted  by  electric  lights  and  gas,  and  street  cars 
traversing  its  more  important  thoroughfares.  But  a  short  stop  was 
made  there,  however,  when  we  were  switched  on  to  a  branch  road 
and  a  ride  of  five  miles  carried  us  to  the  splendid  Montezuma 


MARSHALL     P.     WILDER     ENTERTAINING    THE 
INDIANS    AT    THE    NEEDLES,    CAL, 


117 


hotel  on  the  crest  of  a  lofty  hill,  overlooking  the  hot  springs 
which  have  made  the  locality  famous.  The  Montezuma  Hotel  is 
the  finest  hostelry  between  St.  Louis  and  the  Pacific  coast,  and 
the  A.,  T.  and  S.  F.  Railroad  Company  has  expended  many 
thousands  of  dollars  to  perfect  every  detail.  The  dining-room  is 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  elegant  on  the  American  continent. 
The  party  amused  themselves  riding  on  burros,  presenting  thereby 
an  appearance  of  indescribable  dignity,  inspecting  the  attractions  of 
the  hotel  and  exploring  the  natural  beauties  of  the  locality,  winding 
up  with  a  State  dinner  in  the  fine  dining  room,  at  which  the  regu- 
lation speeches  were  made  on  both  sides,  and  at  six  o'clock  we 
were  under  way  again. 

That  night  we  passed  through  the  famous  Raton  Tunnel,  and 
afterward,  with  a  powerful  engine  at  each  end  of  the  train,  on 
emerging  into  Colorado,  we  made  a  descent  of  sixteen  hundred 
feet  in  twenty  miles.  Notwithstanding  both  engines  had  their 
driving-wheels  reversed,  we  shot  down  the  mountain  at  such  a 
rapid  rate  as  to  cause  the  sparks  to  fly  in  a  continuous  shower 
through  the  friction  of  the  brake  shoes  against  the  wheels  of  the 
.  cars.  The  beauties  of  the  region  were  wholly  lost  to  us  in  the 
blackness  of  the  night,  but  we  had  more  fire-works  than  were 
really  enjoyable. 

Nothing  of  special  interest  happened  to  mar  the  monotony  of 
the  next  day's  ride  through  Colorado,  excepting  the  geographical 
fact  that  at  8.15  \.  M.  we  crossed  the  State  line  into  Kansas.  On 
that  evening  a  particularly  pleasant  social  event  was  celebrated  in 
the  Windermere,  which,  through  being  exclusively  occupied  by 
married  persons,  had  received  from  the  irreverent  bachelors  of  the 
party  the  appellation  of  "  Matrimonial  Car."  The  fact  had  become 
known  that  January  28th  was  the  second  anniversary  of  the  wedding 
of  Delegate  George  F.  Lyon,  of  the  New  York  Press  Club,  and 

118 


>--'  ^ 

THE    BOSTON    PRESS   CLUB   DELEGATES. 


E.  J.  CARPENTER, 
J.  C.  MORSE,  W.  B.  SMART, 


\V.  V.  ALEXANDER, 


W.  C.  GROUT. 


DELEGATES   FROM   SYRACUSE,    BUFFALO   AND    BALTIMORE. 

E.  J.  FI.KURY,  S.  G.  LAI-HAM, 

B.  R.  NEWTON, 
E.  H.  O'HARA,  J.  S.  STII.LMAN. 


his  charming  wife,  and  their  friends  in  that  car  prepared  to 
celebrate  the  occasion  with  a  surprise  party.  Accordingly,  about 
eight  o'clock,  the  seats  and  aisles  of  the  Windermere  were  suddenly 
crowded  by  an  irruption  from  the  other  cars  on  the  train,  and  the 
young  couple,  to  their  gratified  astonishment,  found  themselves  the 
special  centers  of  attraction  to  a  large  assemblage,  who  proceeded 
with  merry  informality  to  offer  them  every  friendly  congratulation 
that  the  occasion  could  suggest.  A  jollier  anniversary  was  never 
celebrated.  There  was  music,  and  there  was  speech-making,  of 
course,  and  a  general  interchange  of  matrimonial  experiences,  which, 
by  the  brilliant  coloring  with  which  it  invested  the  connubial 
state,  so  wrought  upon  the  tender  sensibilities  of  the  unmarried 
guests  that  they  found  themselves  constrained,  men  and  women,  to 
explain  the  reasons  that  had  impelled  them  to  remain  single.  It 
would  be  interesting,  but  manifestly  improper,  to  reveal  those 
confidences.  The  whole  affair  was  charming,  as  a  spontaneous 
testimonial  of  friendly  regard,  and  it  will  doubtless  be  a  cherished 
remembrance  to  the  couple  in  whose  honor  it  was  devised,  as  it 
assuredly  will  be  an  agreeable  one  to  all  the  other  participants. 

Reaching  Kansas  City  shortly  after  midnight  on  January  agth, 
we  were  transferred  to  the  Wabash  Railroad,  parting  regretfully 
from  our  courteous  hosts  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 
Railroad,  who  had  been  our  escorts  since  leaving  Los  Angeles  on 
January  22d.  During  that  interval  we  had  ridden  on  the  tracks  of 
that  mighty  organization  3,701  miles,  the  longest  run  we  made  on 
any  single  road  in  the  entire  journey.  That  forenoon  we  reached 
St.  Louis. 

Now,  when  the  flying  party  of  Press  Clubbers  reached  St. 
Louis,  heading  Eastward,  on  the  morning  of  January  2gth,  they 
began  to  feel  themselves  almost  at  home  again,  and  to  imagine 
that  they  already  could  catch  the  scent  of  the  Atlantic.  But  there 


120 


were  some  dainty  experiences  still  in  store  for  them,  without  an 
account  of  which  this  narrative  would  be  incomplete,  though,  were 
an  attempt  made  to  relate  them  in  detail,  with  full  accent  upon  all 
their  enjoyable  incidents,  and  with  proper  proportionate  allowance 
for  their  varieties  of  elegance  and  novelty  and  enthusiastic 
hospitality,  this  volume  might  well  swell  into  a  series,  and  this 
modest  tale  of  travel  be  expanded  into  the  dimensions  of  the  tail 
of  a  comet.  The  representative  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  on  the  day 
preceding  the  arrival  of  the  Wagner  train,  had  appointed  a  special 
Reception  Committee  for  the  entertainment  of  the  guests,  and  a 
most  expert  committee  it  proved  to  be,  each  member  thereof 
taking  special  charge  of  a  carriage  load  of  the  visitors,  for  whose 
instruction  and  edification  he  displayed  unremitting  solicitude. 
Arriving  at  the  depot  at  11.15  o'clock,  the  party  were  without 
delay  conveyed  in  carriages  to  the  Merchants'  Exchange  and  were 
ceremoniously  ushered  into  the  great  hall,  whereupon  the  bulls 
and  bears  at  once  ceased  their  shouting  and  cavorting,  and  came 
out  of  the  "pit"  to  gaze  upon  the  faces  of  the  interested  guests. 
The  van  of  the  procession  was  led  by  the  Reception  Committee, 
and  they  marched  straight  for  the  rostrum,  where  sat  Mayor 
Noonan,  President  Walbridge,  of  the  City  Council,  Acting 
President  Delafield,  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  and  other 
prominent  citizens.  The  visitors  were  welcomed  by  Acting 
President  Delafield  on  behalf  of  the  Exchange,  and  Mayor 
Noonan  for  the  city.  Mr.  Frank  Gaienne  and  other  St.  Louisans 
also  made  a  few  remarks.  They  were  followed  on  behalf  of  the 
League  party  by  Mr.  Keenan,  Miss  Kate  Field,  Mrs.  Leslie  and 
Marshall  P.  Wilder.  After  the  speech-making  was  over,  the 
delegation  took  carriages  for  a  drive  through  the  parks  and 
boulevards,  and  then  they  repaired  to  the  Fair  Grounds  to  partake 
of  a  handsome  banquet  spread  by  the  St.  Louis  Jockey  Club, 


121 


where  appropriate  toasts  were  proposed  and  responded  to  by 
Mayor  Noonan,  Secretary  Price  and  others  in  the  usual  way.  At 
seven  o'clock  that  evening  the  tourists  left  for  the  East.  The 
enterprise  of  St.  Louis  journalism  was  displayed  in  the  wholesale 
interviewing  with  which  the  papers  were  embellished  that  evening 
and  the  following  day.  Eugene  Field  and  Nelly  Ely,  especially, 
neither  of  whom  was  or  had  been  in  the  party,  were  subjected  to 
a  series  of  interrogatories  respecting  the  experiences  they  had 
encountered  and  the  ideas  they  had  picked  up  on  the  California 
trip,  their  duly  recorded  responses  to  which  excited  the  envy  of 
the  traveling  scribes,  whose  most  brilliant  imaginative  (lights  had 
never  soared  to  such  an  altitude  of  fabulous  construction.  The 
published  comments,  also,  alleged  to  have  been  uttered  by  Mr. 
William  Wilde  and  Mrs.  Leslie  Wilde  and  Miss  Field  were  only 
equalled  in  vigor  of  inaccuracy  by  the  utterly  misleading  descriptive 
comments  published  in  regard  to  several  members  of  the  party. 
This  almost  super-mundane  journalistic  gift  is  essentially  a  Western 
aptitude,  that,  as  everybody  knows,  has  no  equivalent  in  the  East. 
It  will  not  bear  Oriental  transplanting.  It  was,  for  instance,  a 
notable  fact,  and  one  that  had  given  rise  to  much  expression  of 
regret,  that  Col.  John  A.  Cockerill,  President  of  the  New  York 
Press  Club,  was  unable  to  accompany  the  party.  That  trifling 
circumstance,  however,  seemed  to  impart  a  special  spur  to  the 
energy  with  which  the  reporters  of  the  San  Francisco  papers 
interviewed  him  at  the  numerous  hotels  he  patronized  during  the 
few  days  of  his  supposititious  visit  to  that  city. 

At  seven  o'clock  we  were  again  under  way,  still  on  the  Wabash 
Railroad,  in  our  luxurious  Wagner  palaces,  whose  attractiveness 
seemed  to  increase  as  the  time  we  were  to  enjoy  them  diminished. 
After  dinner  the  tables  were  removed  from  the  dining  car,  and, 
the  passengers  being  seated,  Mr.  Berri,  Chairman  of  the  New 


122 


EASTERN   AND   WESTERN    DELEGATES   AND   GUESTS. 


E.  B.  FISHER, 

SAM.  C.  AUSTIN, 


C.  C.  SMITH, 

GEO.  H.  LOWEKKE. 


York  delegation,  presented,  on  behalf  of  the  assembled  delegates,  an 
elegant  silver  salad  bowl  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Yager,  accompanying  the 
presentation  with  a  happy  little  speech  that  admirably  expressed 
the  sentiment  of  the  donors,  and  brought  blushes  of  modest 
pleasure  to  the  cheeks  of  the  recipients.  Mr.  Yager  thanked  the 
party  briefly,  whereupon  Mr.  Berri  proceeded,  on  behalf  of  the 
same  constituency,  to  present  a  handsome  silver  set  to  Mr.  Jerome. 
That  modest  bachelor  was  so  overcome  with  emotion  that  he 
was  obliged  to  secure  the  services  of  Miss  Kate  Field  to  give  his 
thanks  expression.  Seal  rings,  with  their  initials  set  in  diamonds, 
were  likewise  presented  to  Mr.  Cornell,  chief  of  the  dining  car, 
and  Mr.  Morrison,  the  conductor,  who  had  accompanied  the  train 
through  the  entire  journey,  and  to  whom  every  person  of  the 
party  was  indebted  for  courtesies  innumerable.  Nor  was  that 
important  functionary,  the  chef,  forgotten.  The  recollection  of 
many  savory  meals  he  had  prepared,  and  the  consciousness  of  the 
general  increase  of  avoirdupois  which  was  attributed  to  his  skill, 
were  testified  to  in  the  shape  of  a  handsome  scarf  pin,  the 
acceptance  of  which  brought  to  his  cheeks  a  more  ruddy  glow 
than  that  they  bore  when  he  was  officiating  over  the  fires  of  his 
range.  A  speech  being  insisted  upon,  he  shuffled  forward  with  his 
white  cap  in  his  hand,  and  explained  his  position  in  sententious 
style :  "  I's  a  fuss  rate  cook,  but  I  ain't  no  actor,  so  you  must 
'scuse  me  from  makin'  a  speech."  We  had  encountered  others 
through  the  previous  few  weeks  who,  like  him,  were  "no  actors," 
but,  alas,  they  did  not  always  seek  to  be  excused. 

At  noon,  on  January  3Oth,  we  arrived  at  Toledo,  and  it  seemed 
as  though  the  whole  city  was  on  the  alert  for  our  reception, 
thanks  to  the  efforts  of  the  delegates  from  that  city,  Messrs. 
Boyle  and  Murphy.  The  Toledo  visit  was  simply  exquisite.  After 
being  formally  welcomed  by  the  Hon.  Frank  H.  Hurd,  at  the 

124 


Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  listening  to  the  sprightly  response  of 
Delegate  W.  V.  Alexander,  of  Boston,  a  banquet  was  partaken  of 
at  the  elegant  Club  House.  That  repast  was  really  remarkable  for 
its  elegance,  variety  and  profusion.  The  floral  display  was 
magnificent,  considering  the  latitude  and  the  season  of  the  year. 
At  every  plate  was  a  beautiful  hand-painted  souvenir  menu.  Most 
delightful  of  all,  however,  were  the  gracious  courtesies  of  the 
ladies,  who  vied  with  the  men  of  Toledo  in  giving  the  party  a 
hearty  reception. 

On  leaving  Toledo  we  left  also  the  delegates  from  Pittsburg, 
who  returned  home  from  that  city.  However,  we  were  rejoiced  to 
find  that  many  of  our  entertainers  were  to  accompany  us  to 
Detroit,  where,  at  3.30  o'clock  that  afternoon,  the  special  train 
pulled  into  the  Michigan  Central  depot.  The  party  were 
immediately  taken  in  hand  by  the  local  reception  committee  and 
handed  into  carriages,  and  were  driven  up  Jefferson  avenue  to  the 
Museum  of  Art,  where  half  an  hour  was  spent  in  admiring  its 
contents.  Repairing  then  to  the  Russell  House,  an  opportunity 
was  given  to  become  acquainted  with  our  hosts  and  hostesses. 
For  three-quarters  of  an  hour  the  corridors  and  parlors  of  the 
hotel  were  thronged,  and  impromptu  receptions  were  in  progress 
on  every  hand.  In  one  parlor  Miss  Kate  Field  was  the  centre  of 
a  group,  among  whom  were  Hon.  Alfred  Russell,  Hon.  Don.  M. 
Dickinson,  Richard  Storrs  Willis  and  Mrs.  Herman  Dey.  In  other 
parlors  similar  coteries  were  gathered,  while  the  rank  and  file 
scattered  about  and  enjoyed  themselves  as  best  suited  their  fancy. 
At  5.30  o'clock  the  doors  of  the  dining  room  were  thrown  open 
and  the  guests  filed  in.  In  a  few  moments  the  room  was 
transformed  into  a  scene  of  gaiety  unsurpassed.  A  large 
representation  of  Detroit's  citizenship  was  present.  Among  the 
invited  guests  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard  Storrs  Willis,  Mrs. 

125 


John  J.  Bagley,  Col.  William  Ludlow,  U.  S.  A.,  Mrs.  Campau 
Thompson,  Mrs.  Herman  Dey,  Alfred  Russell,  ex-Postmaster- 
General  Dickinson  and  others.  An  hour  or  so  was  spent  in  the 
discussion  of  an  elegant  menu.  The  appetites  being  finally 
appeased,  Mr.  William  E.  Quinby,  Chairman  of  the  Reception 
Committee,  rapped  for  order  and  called  upon  the  Mendelsohn 
Quartet  for  a  vocal  selection.  Mr.  Quinby  then  welcomed  the 
guests  and  introduced  as  the  first  speaker  the  Hon.  Don.  M. 
Dickinson,  ex- Postmaster-General.  Mr.  Dickinson,  who  was  greeted 
with  a  round  of  cheers,  expressed  a  hearty  welcome  to  the  visitors 
on  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Detroit.  He  paid  a  handsome  tribute 
to  the  ladies  of  the  party,  which  brought  out  several  "ohs"  and 
"mys"  in  different  parts  of  the  room.  He  thought  it  would  be 
well  if  the  ladies  always  attended  banquets,  although  he  could  not 
sincerely  say  the  men  would  have  a  better  time  if  they  should.  The 
"ahs"  were  in  the  majority  at  this  remark.  Mr.  Dickinson  dwelt 
warmly  upon  the  prospects  of  Detroit  as  a  future  seaport.  He 
said:  "We  are  to  have  direct  connection  with  tide-water  and,  in  the 
course  of  time,  we  will  trade  direct  with  Liverpool  and  the  ports 
of  South  America  without  change  of  bulk.  We  are  bound  to  get 
it,  and  the  great  Northwest,  an  empire  in  itself,  will  hew  and 
dig  and  blast  away  until  we  do  get  it.  The  time  will  come  when 
we  can  load  our  own  ships  at  our  doors  with  provisions  for 
starving  Russia  without  asking  your  leave  of  Congress."  Mr. 
Dickinson  was  succeeded  by  Delegate  T.  H.  Martin,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  Miss  Kate  Field,  of  Washington,  and  the  entertainment  was 
brought  to  a  cheery  close  by  the  "Modocs"  of  the  Wagner  Buffet 
car  giving  one  of  their  characteristic  demoniacal  war  whoopSj  after 
hearing  which  no  person  felt  any  desire  to  prolong  the  sitting 
another  instant.  But  the  day's  festivities  were  by  no  means  ended. 
Hardly  had  the  banquet  hall  been  vacated  when  the  guests  entered 

126 


the  carriages  and  were  driven  to  the  residence  of  General  R.  A. 
Alger.  Here  they  were  received  by  General  and  Mrs.  Alger,  their 
daughters  and  sons.  The  elegant  home,  with  its  wealth  of  paintings, 
was  for  more  than  an  hour  a  brilliant  scene.  The  guests  were 
continually  on  the  move,  and  many  acquaintances  were  formed  that 
will  long  be  treasured  by  the  participants.  Among  the  diversions 


VIEW     (IK     NIAGARA     KA1.I.S     FROM     THE     CANADIAN     SIDE. 


was  a  humorous  speech  of  Col.  William  Ludlow  on  the  "  Army 
and  Navy,"  and  several  stories  were  told  by  Marshall  P.  Wilder. 
General  Alger  himself  was  called  upon  to  speak  during  the 
evening,  and  responded  with  graceful  eloquence. 

At    eleven    o'clock  we    took    the    train  again.       It  was  the  last 

127 


night  we  were  to  enjoy  its  hospitable  shelter.  With  great  regret, 
a  sentiment  that  was  experienced  on  both  sides,  we  took  leave 
here  of  our  fidus  Achates  Jerome,  of  ever  blessed  memory. 
Wearied  with  the  excitements  of  the  day,  the  party  were  soon 
wrapped  in  slumber,  and  it  seemed  as  though  they  had  hardly  fallen 
asleep  when  they  were  routed  out  again  at  seven  o'clock  on 


EMERGING   FROM   THE    HIGHLANDS   ON   THE   NEW    YORK   CENTRAL   R.    R. 

Sunday,  January  3151,  to  view  the  beauties  of  Niagara  Falls  in  its 
winter  garb.  Fortified  with  a  hasty  cup  of  coffee  they  were 
speedily  seated  in  sleighs  and  comfortably  wrapped  in  warm  robes, 
were  whisked  away  for  an  hour's  ride,  in  which  they  were  afforded 
an  excellent  sight  of  the  Rapids  and  the  river  and  the  Falls  from 
every  advantageous  point  of  view.  The  spectacle  is  always 


128 


impressive,  marvelous  and  grand,  at  whatever  season  it  is  enjoyed, 
but  it  must  be  confessed  that  its  sublimity  is  somewhat  cramped 
when  it  is  partaken  of  on  an  empty  stomach.  It  was  interesting 
on  returning  to  the  train  to  note  how,  after  a  hot  breakfast  had 
been  eaten,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  party  burst  forth,  afresh,  as  the 
cataract  itself  was  destined  to  do  when  relieved  of  its  icy  fetters 
and  polar  ornamentation. 

Now,  all    interest    was    centered    upon    reaching    home.       The 
party  was  rapidly  diminishing    in  numbers,  and    leave-taking  was  in 


N'EAKING    HOME. — HIGH    UK1DGH.,    ON    THE    HARLEM    RIVER. 


order.  At  Syracuse,  Rochester  and  Albany  guests  and  delegates 
who  had  joined  us  there  on  the  outward  trip  bade  us  adieu,  and 
by  nightfall  almost  the  only  remaining  occupants  of  the  train  were 
the  New  York  delegation  and  a  few  from  Boston  and  Philadelphia. 
There  was  one  more  little  social  incident  to  occur.  We  had  been 
rejoined  at  Niagara  by  Mr.  Roach,  Mr.  Underwood,  of  the 
Michigan  Central,  leaving  us  at  that  point.  When  night  came  and 
we  were  rattling  down  the  shore  of  the  Hudson  at  the  rate  of 

129 


about  sixty-five  miles  an  hour,  Mr.  Roach  was  presented  by  Mr. 
Berri,  on  behalf  of  the  whole  delegation,  with  a  set  of  silver,  for 
which  he  returned  thanks  in  a  neat  little  response  that  effectually 
confirmed  his  reputation  as  a  ready  speaker. 

At  jo  r.  M.  we  were  in  the  Grand  Central  depot,  at  our 
journey's  end. 

Brundnsi-iim  longae  Jim's  chartacqnc  viacque. 


CHAPTER  v. 
<& 

THE  WAGNER  PALACE  TRAIN  AND  OUR  RAILROAD  HOSTS. 

* 

H  E  trip  was  ended.  It  had  been  one  of  unalloyed 
enjoyment.  The  party  of  120  men  and  women  found 
themselves  again  at  their  point  of  departure  without 
the  occurrence  of  a  single  mishap  to  mar  the  record 
of  nearly  four  weeks  of  pleasurable  excitement  and 
incessant  activity.  In  that  interval  they  had  been 
carried  twice  across  the  breadth  of  the  continent ; 
had  visited  all  the  places  of  interest  on  their  route  ; 
had  received  entertainment  such  as  had  seldom,  if  ever  before, 
been  tendered  to  strangers  on  the  wing,  and  had,  furthermore,  in 
various  ways  contributed  to  the  making  of  history.  Not  the  least 
noteworthy  of  these  was  the  manner  in  which  the  details  of  the 
journey  had  been  conducted.  In  truth,  the  whole  success  of  the 
trip  was  due  to  the  magnificent  provision  made  for  their 
entertainment  by  the  officials  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad 
Company  conjointly  with  those  of  the  Wagner  Palace  Car 
Company.  The  former  gave  the  use  of  its  tracks,  and  the  power 
of  its  potent  influence  exercised  magic  sway  on  every  road  the 
train  traveled  over.  The  Wagner  Company  supplemented  this  by 
tendering  to  the  delegates  the  most  sumptuously  appointed  and 
most  profusely  stocked  special  train  of  vestibuled  palace  cars  that 
ever  set  out  from  the  Grand  Central  Depot.  Every  attribute  of 


comfort,  ease  and  luxurious  satisfaction  that  modern  ingenuity  has 
devised  for  the  gratification  of  the  traveling  public,  was  combined 
in  that  special  train,  and,  what  was  more  to  the  purpose,  it  was 
there  to  be  used  and  to  be  enjoyed  to  the  utmost.  The  train, 
composed  of  six  cars,  represented  the  highest  development  of 
railway  luxury.  First  was  the  Buffet  smoking  car,  "  No.  655," 
followed  by  two  sleeping  cars,  the  "Westmoreland"  and 
"  Wi.ndermere."  Then  came  the  dining  car  in  the  center  of  the 
train.  The  last  two  cars  were  the  "  Raeburn  "  and  the  "Magenta," 
the  latter  being  divided  into  state-room  compartments.  The  whole 
train  was  warmed  with  steam  and  Baker  heaters,  and  lighted  by 
gas,  though  there  was  prudently  an  abundance  of  auxiliary  oil  and 
bracket  candle  lamps,  to  be  used  when  the  gas  gave  out.  Each 
car  was  supplied  with  hot  and  cold  water.  The  interiors  were 
upholstered  to  correspond  with  the  wood  work  with  silk  damask, 
bordered  with  plush.  It  was  claimed  to  be  the  heaviest  solid 
vestibule  train  that  ever  made  the  round  trip  between  New  York 
and  San  Francisco.  At  every  station  where  it  stopped  it  excited 
the  greatest  admiration  and  praise,  and  the  loudest  of  all  to 
proclaim  its  beauty  and  magnificence  were  the  railroad  men,  who 
flocked  to  the  depots  to  inspect  it.  Nothing  that  skill  and 
enterprise  could  devise  was  lacking  in  its  equipment,  and  it  was 
complacently  claimed  by  the  travelers  that  it  was  superior  to  the 
train  which  shortly  before  had  conveyed  President  Harrison's  party 
on  its  trip  to  the  Pacific  coast.  The  Wagner  people  determined 
that  the  newspaper  men  should  have  no  possible  chance  for  adverse 
criticism,  and  they  carried  their  intentions  out  to  the  very  letter. 
The  only  reasonable  criticism  the  guests  could  conjure  up  was  based 
upon  the  lavish  character  of  their  entertainment.  A  more  efficient 
crew  of  attendants  never  accompanied  a  train.  Every  man  knew 
his  business  and,  therefore,  every  want  of  the  passengers  was  cared 

132 


for.  There  were  in  all  twenty  employe's,  consisting  of  the 
conductor,  steward,  barber,  four  cooks,  five  waiters,  six  porters  and 
the  baggagemen.  In  regard  to  the  cooking  there  was  nothing  left 
to  be  desired,  and  from  the  first  day  that  the  party  dined  on  the 
outward  journey  to  the  return  to  New  York  there  was  no  room 
for  the  slightest  complaint.  The  service  on  the  part  of  the 
steward,  Mr.  E.  L.  Cornell,  and  his  efficient  aids  would  challenge 
comparison  with  that  of  the  best  hotels  in  the  United  States. 
The  favorite  resort  of  the  gentlemen,  particularly  the  unmarried 
ones,  on  the  trip  was  the  buffet  smoker.  It  was  a  thing  of  beauty 
and  a  joy,  and  without  it  the  pleasure  of  the  trip  would  have  been 
immeasureably  lessened.  This  traveling  club-house  was  finished  in 
oak  and  mahogany.  The  forward  part  was  used  for  baggage. 
Next  came  a  bath-room,  and  adjoining  the  bath  was  the  barber's 
room,  containing  a  barber's  chair,  in  which,  thanks  to  the  skill  of 
Mr.  Frank,  the  tonsorial  artist  who  presided,  the  requirements  of 
the  travelers  in  his  line  could  be  attended  to  with  almost  as  much 
satisfaction  at  a  forty  mile  gait,  as  under  the  most  favorable 
conditions  in  a  barber  shop  on  terra  firma.  Next  to  the  barber 
shop  were  two  sections  that  could  be  used  for  card  playing.  I 
do  not  state  that  they  were  so  utilized,  however.  These  two 
sections  could  be  entirely  shut  off  from  the  other  portions  of  the 
car  by  means  of  a  mahogany  partition  and  plush  curtains.  Back 
of  this  adjustable  section  was  a  writing  desk,  furnished  with 
stationery  on  tap,  and  all  the  conveniences  for  correspondence  or 
telegraphing,  while  on  the  other  side,  Mr.  W.  Archer,  the 
stenographer  from  Mr.  Yager's  New  York  office,  with  his  writ- 
ing machine,  was  located.  His  services  were  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  travelers,  and  were  in  steady  requisition.  The 
central  portion  of  the  buffet  car  was  devoted  to  the  smokers. 
Here  there  were  large  moveable  easy  chairs  of  oak  and  cane, 

133 


heavily  upholstered  with  plush.  "  Standing  room  only,"  was 
almost  invariably  the  condition  in  this  part  of  the  train  after 
meals  and  during  the  evening.  Long  will  the  remembrance 
abide  of  the  funny  stories,  the  racy  anecdotes,  the  recitations,  the 
shop  talk,  the  schemes  of  organization,  the  earnest  debates  and 
the  hot-headed  discussions,  as  well  as  the  effervescences  of  high- 
flown  rhetoric,  and  the  bursts  of  eloquence  that  were  steadily 
in  progress  in  that  buffet  car  during  the  trip.  Neither  will  the 
war  whoop  of  "  the  Modocs "  be  readily  forgotten.  Next  in 
order  came  the  most  extensively  patronized  of  all  the  special 
departments  of  the  train.  This  was  the  buffet  itself,  from  which 
the  rubicund  Dan,  or  his  sober-minded  companion  Gates,  incessantly 
peered,  awaiting  calls  for  lemonade,  ginger  ale,  sarsaparilla  and 
soda,  or  occasionally  the  foaming  beer  bottle.  There,  also,  was 
a  library  of  admirably  selected  books,  which  served  to  beguile 
many  a  leisure  hour  to  all  the  passengers  on  the  train.  Next  to 
the  buffet  car  was  the  Westmoreland,  the  "Stag  Car"  as  it  was 
designated,  being  occupied  exclusively  by  the  bachelors  of  the 
party.  In  the  other  cars  were  the  married  delegates  and  the 
ladies  and  other  guests.  The  dining  car  was  one  of  the  hand- 
somest ever  constructed,  and,  of  course,  of  the  most  approved 
pattern,  the  old  style  of  section  seats  having  been  superseded  by 
the  substitution  of  chairs.  On  the  left  side  of  the  car,  as  the 
illustration  shows,  were  tables  accommodating  four  persons,  and 
on  the  right  side  there  were  tables  seating  two  each,  thus  giving 
ample  room  for  passing  back  and  forth.  Thirty  persons  could 
be  served  at  one  time.  What  added  greatly  to  the  convenience 
and  enjoyment  of  the  trip  was  the  circumstance  already  alluded 
to,  that  all  the  tables  in  the  car  could  be  removed  and  a  change 
could  be  made  into  a  traveling  hall,  where  frequent  entertain- 
ments were  given  during  the  trip. 

134 


The  guests  of  the  trip  were  attentively  cared  for.  Mrs. 
Frank  Leslie  occupied  a  drawing-room  section  in  the  Raeburn, 
and  was  very  comfortably  situated.  Mr.  Willie  Wilde  occupied 
a  section  to  himself,  just  outside.  Miss  Kate  Field  was  assigned 
a  state-room  in  the  last  car  of  the  train — the  Magenta — in  which 
car  were  most  of  the  officers  of  the  League  and  their  wives  and 
invited  guests.  This  car  was  one  of  particularly  elegant  con- 
struction and  convenience,  the  state-rooms  being  so  arranged 
that  they  could,  if  desired,  be  joined  in  suites. 

Despite  the  size  and  weight  of  this  great  train,  it  arrived  at 
its  destination  half  an  hour  ahead  of  its  schedule  time,  and  this 
in  the  face  of  the  severe  storms  that  accompanied  it  in  its  entire 
trip  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  there  was  not  a  hot  box  during  the  whole  journey,  though 
the  brake-shoes  were  almost  worn  through  on  account  of  t he- 
enormous  and  arduous  amount  of  work  done  on  the  heavy  grades 
over  the  Rockies  and  Sierras.  "There  were  served,"  says 
Statistician  Morse,  of  the  Boston  Press  Club,  "about  125  people 
per  day.  The  train  was  provisioned  at  New  York  with  groceries, 
etc.,  for  the  round  trip,  while  perishable  supplies  were  purchased 
en  route.  The  train  was  equipped,  in  addition  to  other  essential 
articles,  with  1,000  sheets,  1,000  slips,  2,500  hand  towels,  500 
barber  towels,  50  glass  towels,  500  table  cloths,  1,500  napkins 
and  650  doylies.  The  expense  of  the  washing  for  the  trip  was 
over  $400,  laundry  work  having  to  be  done  at  San  Bernardino 
and  San  Francisco.  Everything  was  as  bright  and  clean  and 
as  fresh  on  the  return  to  New_York  as  had  been  the  case  at  the 
departure." 

That  everything  was  so  admirably  contrived  for  the  enjoyment 
of  the  whole  trip,  was  in  a  very  large  measure  due  to  the  execu- 
tive abilities  and  energetic  efforts  of  Messrs.  W.  B.  Jerome, 

,36 


General  Western  ~  Passenger "Agent  ;  of  "the"  'New""  York  Central 
Railroad,  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Yager,  the  Eastern  Superintendent  of 
the  Wagner  Palace  Car  Company.  Mr.  Jerome  was  the  railway 
representative  on  the  entire  trip  from  Chicago,  and  the  manner 
in  which  he  attended  to  his  portion  of  the  duties  called  forth  the 
highest  praise  from  every  member  of  the  party.  Mr.  Jerome  is  a 
native  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  and  has  occupied  his  present  responsible 
position  about  ten  years. 

The  excellence  of  the  internal  economy  of  the  train  and  the 
service  and  discipline  were  due  to  the  presence  of  Superintendent 
of  the  Wagner  Palace  Car  Company  John  C.  Yager.  That  gentle- 
man made  it  a  point  to  anticipate  the  wants  of  every  one  on  the 
train,  and  any  suggestion  that  came  to  his  ears  received  instant 
attention.  He  seemed  to  be  omnipresent.  He  omitted  nothing. 
He  watched  everything.  Mr.  Yager  was  born  in  Piqua,  Ohio, 
and  has  been  connected  with  sleeping  car  companies  for  the  past 
sixteen  years,  during  seven  of  which  he  has  occupied  the  position 
of  Eastern  Superintendent  for  the  Wagner  Company,  having 
charge  of  all  lines  east  of  Buffalo,  with  headquarters  at  New 
York. 

Another  railway  official  who  left  no  stone  unturned  to  secure 
for  the  delegates  the  unprecedented  comfort  that  they  enjoyed, 
and  who  succeeded  admirably  therein,  was  Mr.  Milton  C.  Roach, 
General  Eastern  Passenger  Agent  of  the  New  York  Central  and 
Hudson  River  Railroad.  Mr.  Roach  not  only  accompanied  the 
party  as  far  as  Chicago,  but  also  delighted  the  many  friends  that 
he  made  on  the  outward  trip  by  returning  from  Niagara  Falls  to 
New  York  with  them. 

To  Mr.  George  H.  Daniels,  of  the  New  York  Central  Rail- 
road, is  due  a  large  share  of  credit,  for  it  was  he  who  made  it 
possible  for  his  subordinates  to  perform  their  work  so  well,  and 

138 


DR.  A.  S.  HUNTER, 
W.  B.  JEROME, 


GUESTS   AND    RAILROAD   OFFICIALS. 
J.  SEAVER  PAGE, 
M.  C.  ROACH, 


M.  H.  BROWN, 
J.  C.  YAGER. 


it  was  he  who  made  all  the  preliminary  arrangements  for  the 
journey,  that  resulted  in  such  wholesale  success.  Mr.  E.  J. 
Richards,  Assistant  General  Passenger  Agent,  was  also  solicitious 
for  our  welfare,  accompanying  the  party  to  Albany  on  the  outward 
trip,  and  meeting  it  again  on  the  return,  to  escort  it  through 
New  York  State  to  its  starting  point. 

Nothing,  in  fact,  could  surpass  the  watchful  care  with  which 
the  Eastern  travelers  were  unremittingly  surrounded  by  their  rail- 
road hosts  and  protectors.  Up  the  mountains  and  down  the 
mountains,  through  narrow  and  precipitous  passes,  past  craggy 
ledges  and  by  the  edges  of  rivers  the  train  was  borne  along  at 
sometimes  startling  speed,  but  the  passengers  were  relieved  from 
all  sense  of  nervousness  by  the  knowledge  that  their  immediate 
destinies  were  in  the  charge  of  the  Napoleonic  Jerome,  unruffled, 
alert,  unsleeping,  all  observant,  and  always  thoroughly  master  of 
the  situation.  If  the  journey,  in  all  its  perfect  details,  realized 
the  notion  of  "the  poetry  of  travel,"  Jerome  was  the  poet  laureate 
to  whom  was  due  the  even  smoothness  that  marked  its  cadenced 
rhythm.  Then,  too,  over  each  road  that  was  traversed  the  party 
was  escorted  by  some  of  its  highest  officials.  The  narrative  of 
the  journey  would  be  incomplete  without  a  detailed  record  of  the 
gentlemen  who  accompanied  the  delegates  over  the  lines  of  road 
they  severally  represented,  and  to  whom  the  travelers  desire, 
through  this  medium,  to  express  their  earnest  thanks.  They  were : 

J.  C.  YAGER,  Division  Superintendent  of  the  Wagner  Palace  Car  Company, 
representing  his  company  on  the  entire  trip  (accompanied  by  Mrs.  Yager). 

W.  B.  JEROME,  General  Western  Passenger  Agent  of  the  New  York  Central 
and  Hudson  River  Railroad,  representing  his  company  the  entire  trip 
from  Chicago  to  San  Francisco,  and  returning,  to  Detroit. 

E.  J.  RICHARDS,  Assistant  General  Passenger  Agent  New  York  Central  Rail- 
road, from  New  York  to  Albany. 

M.  C.  ROACH,  General  Eastern  Passenger  Agent,  New  York  Central  Railroad, 
New  York  to  Chicago,  and  return  from  Niagara  Falls. 

140 


W.  H.  UNDERWOOD,  Eastern  Passenger  Agent,  Michigan  Central  Railroad,  New 
.York  to  Chicago,  and  Detroit  to  Buffalo  on  return. 

C.  L.  LEONORI,  General  Commissary,   Wagner    Palace    Car  Company,  Buffalo 

to  Chicago. 

JAMES  GIBSON,  District  Passenger  Agent,  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway, 
Chicago  to  Omaha. 

B.  S.  ANDREWS,  of  the  Passenger  and  Ticket  Department,  Chicago  and  North- 

western Railway,  Chicago  to  Denver. 

D.  E.  BURLEY,  of  the  Passenger  Department,  Union  Pacific  Railway,  Omaha 

to  Denver. 

S.  K.   HOOPER,  General  Passenger  and  Ticket  Agent,  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
Railroad,  Denver  to  Salt  Lake. 

F.  A.  WADLEIGH,  Assistant  General  Passenger  Agent,  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
Railroad,  Denver  to  Grand  Junction. 

J.  J.  BURNS,  Superintendent  of  First  Division,  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Rail- 
road, Colorado  Springs  to  Glenwood  Springs. 

C.  C.  SMITH,  Assistant  General  Passenger  Agent,  Rio  Grande  Western  Rail- 

way, Grand  Junction  to  Ogden. 

W.  L.   KNIGHT,  Traveling  Passenger  Agent,  Southern   Pacific  Railway,   Ogden 
to  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles. 

W.  C.  MORROW,    of    the    Passenger    Department,    Southern     Pacific    Railway, 
Ogden  to  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles. 

E.  F.  BURNETT,  Passenger  Agent,   Atchison,  Topeka  and   Santa  Fe  Railroad, 

from   Los  Angeles  to  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

F.  CHANDLER,  General   Passenger  and   Ticket  Agent,  Wabash  Railroad  Com- 

pany, Kansas  City  to  Detroit. 

H.  DURAND,  Passenger  Department,  Wabash  Railroad  Company,  Kansas  City 
to  St.   Louis. 

This  record  of  our  railroad  hosts  should  include  the  names  of 
Dr.  Seward  Webb,  President,  and  Mr.  C.  D.  Flagg,  Vice-President 
of  the  Wagner  Palace  Car  Company,  who  directed  that  the  special 
Wagner  train  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  League  and  made 
the  agreeable  trip  possible. 

Railroad  officials  deserving  of  most  honorable  and  grateful 
mention,  besides  those  named  above,  are,  Mr.  O.  W.  Ruggles, 
General  Passenger  and  Ticket  Agent,  Michigan  Central  Railroad  ; 
Mr.  W.  F.  White,  Passenger  Traffic  Manager,  Atchison,  Topeka 

141 


&  Santa  Fe"  Railroad  Company,  and  Mr.  C.  P.  Huntington, 
President  Southern  Pacific  Company. 

A    further   illustration    of   the    solicitude   shown    for   the    Press 
Club    party    by    their    railroad    entertainers    was    afforded    in     the 
circumstance  of    their    inviting    Dr.    Alexander    S.    Hunter,  one   of 
New    York's   distinguished    physicians,    to    take    part    in    the    trip, 
in    the    capacity    of   special    medical    attendant.       Dr.    Hunter    was 
accompanied    by    his    estimable    wife.        His   own    genial    presence 
was   a   continuous   tonic   and    stimulant,    and    possibly    to   the    con- 
fidence   imparted    by   that    attractive    quality  on    his   part   was    due 
the  unusual  fact  of  a  party  of  over  a  hundred 
persons  making  a  continued  journey  of  nearly 
nine  thousand  miles  without   any  one    of  the 
number   falling   sick    or   in    any    serious    way 
requiring  medical  attendance. 

In  fact,  the  personnel  of  the  party  was, 
throughout,  all  that  could  have  been  desired 
to  render  the  trip  a  success.  The  subject 
must  not  be  closed  without  mentioning  the 
attendance  on  the  route  of  a  phantom  guest, 
who  turned  up  regularly  at  every  stopping 
place,  and  was  a  welcome  participant  in  the 

entertainments  provided  for  the  travelers,  disappearing,  however, 
as  soon  as  preparations  began  for  resuming  the  journey.  This 
mysterious  traveling  companion  was  Mr.  H.  W.  Chapin,  of  Syracuse, 
a  popular  member  of  the  Press  Club  of  that  city.  By  careful 
study  and  manipulation  of  the  time  tables,  Mr.  Chapin  managed 
to  secure  a  train  just  in  advance  of  the  "  Wagner  special,"  so  as  to 
be  regularly  on  hand  to  welcome  the  party  on  its  arrival  at  each 
successive  point  where  it  was  to  disembark  from  the  train.  He 
had  the  remarkable  fortune  in  a  trip  of  9,153  miles  to  make  every 


II.    \V.    CIIAI'IX,    OF    SYKACUSK. 


142 


connection  that  he  had  planned  before  setting  out  from  Syracuse, 
though  he  confessed  afterward  that  it  had  kept  him  very  busy  to 
keep  pace  with  the  rapid  movements  of  the  Wagner  excursionists. 


Travel  has  been  declared  to  be  the  "  Fool's  Paradise."  If 
the  epigram  embodies  a  truth,  it  is  also  true  that  the  fool  may 
inhabit  Paradise  without  monopolizing  it.  It  would  be  a  narrow 
and  imperfect  view  of  the  subject  that  would  seek  to  belittle  the 
gratification  of  travel  or  to  exclude  men  of  sense  from  its  appre- 
ciative enjoyment.  A  man  may  make  a  journey  of  many  miles 
in  these  days  of  rails  and  wires  without  really  slackening  his  grasp 
upon  the  interests  he  leaves  behind  him,  nor  can  he  fairly  consider 
himself  as  ever  getting  wholly  out  of  reaching  distance  of  his 
home.  The  improvements  in  this  respect  which  have  occurred 
within  the  observation  of  men  still  in  the  prime  of  life  are  among 
the  most  striking  illustrations  of  the  accelerated  velocity  with 
which  this  moribund  Nineteenth  Century  has  been  spinning  "  down 
the  ringing  grooves  of  change."  There  are  many  who  readily  recall 
the  time  when  a  voyage  to  Europe,  or  especially  a  trip  across 
this  continent,  was  a  portentous  undertaking,  demanding  serious 
contemplation  beforehand,  and  perhaps  exciting  the  sympathetic 
apprehensions  of  one's  acquaintances.  Who  shall  dare  to  con- 
jecture what  facilities  for  traveling  will  be  in  use  at  the  end  of 
the  next  century?  But  let  them  be  what  they  may,  with  all 
their  possibilities  of  improved  conditions,  they  cannot  confer  greater 
satisfaction  upon  the  people  of  that  coming  period  than  the  Press 
Club  Leaguers  of  this  day  and  generation  experienced  in  their 
rapid  railroad  ride  briefly  related  in  the  preceding  pages.  The 
narrative  has  been  prepared  at  the  request  of  the  League,  merely 
to  give  enduring  form  to  the  recollection  of  what  must  be 

143 


treasured  as  an  enjoyable  episode  in  the  life  of  every  man  and 
woman  who  took  part  in  it.  It  was  not  desired,  on  the  one  hand, 
nor  attempted  on  the  other,  to  make  this  more  than  a  condensed 
recital  of  such  incidents  as  fell  within  the  writer's  own  observation, 
and,  accordingly,  he  has  not  aimed  at  describing  those  facts  from 
the  high  standpoint  of  expert  reporting,  nor  on  the  lower  plane 
of  editorial  discussion.  As  Martial  says :  "  His  subject  was  so 
fruitful  that  he  had  the  less  need  for  the  exercise  of  wit." 


of    Trave'    of    the    International    press    League. 


New  York  Central  and  Michigan  Central —  MILES. 

New  York  to  Chicago 976 

Chicago  and  Northwestern — 

Chicago  to  Omaha 503 

Union  Pacific — 

Omaha  to  Denver 572 

Denver  and  Rio  Grande  and  Rio  Grande  Western — 

Denver  to  Ogden 784 

Side  Trips  about  Salt  Lake  City  and  to  Gas  Wells 35 

Southern  Pacific — 

Ogden  to  San  Francisco .".  895 

San  Francisco  to  Monterey 127 

Monterey  to  Pajaro 28 

Pajaio  to  Santa  Cruz 21 

Santa  Cruz  to  San  Jose 35 

San  Jose  to  San  Francisco 50 

San  Francisco  to  Los  Angeles 482 

Southern  California  (now  A.,  T.  and  S.  F.  R.  R.) — 

Los  Angeles  to  Pasedena  and  Return 20 

Los  Angeles  to  Redondo  Beach  and  return 46 

Los  Angeles  to  Redlands  and  return  to  San  Bernardino 71 

San  Bernardino  to  San  Diego 124 

Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe — 

San  Diego  to  Kansas  City,  making  stops  as  follows  :    Albuquerque, 

Santa  Fe  and  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs 2,392 

Lamy  Junction  to  Santa  Fe  and  return 36 

Las  Vegas  to  Hot  Springs  and  return 12 

Wabash  Railroad — 

Kansas  City  to  St.  Louis 277 

St.  Louis  to  Toledo 436 

Michigan  Central  Railway — 

Toledo  to  Detroit 59 

Detroit  to  Buffalo 251 

New  York  Central  Railroad — 

Buffalo  to  New  York 444 


Total 8,676 

i47 


\Vhat  the  DeleSates  Had  t(>  Say  About  the 


The  subjoined  list  of  the  special  contributions  sent  to  their 
respective  papers  during  the  journey  by  the  delegates  on  the  train 
is  not  claimed  to  be  exhaustive.  It  comprises  those  only  which 
have  come  before  the  notice  of  the  present  writer.  The  dates  given 
are  those  of  their  publication  : 

Chas.  W.  Price,  Electrical  Review  — 

Feb.    1  3th.     "The  Press  Club  League  Convention." 

J.  C.  Morse,  Boston  Herald  — 

Feb.        3d.     "The  Press  Delegates'  Train." 

J.   B.   Dampman,  Reading  Herald  — 

Jan.       Qth.  "The  Start  and  the  Train." 

"        1  3th.  "On  the  Fly  through  Nebraska." 

"        i6th.  "Denver's  Magic  Growth." 

"        J9th.  "Crossing  the  Rockies." 

zoth.  "Salt  Lake  City." 

"       25th.  "At  the  Golden  Gate." 

"       26th.  "California's  Wonders." 

"       29111.  "Model  Street  Cars  in  San   Francisco." 

"       3oth.  "Vineyards  of  Fresno." 

Feb.       ist.  "San  Jose." 

"  2d.  "A  Visit  to  Monterey." 

3d.  "Receptions  and  Banquets." 

"         5th.  "Sacramento  to  Los  Angeles." 

2d.  "Banquet  of  the  Reading  Press  Club." 

C.   H.  George,  Baltimore  American  — 

Feb.      5th.     "From  Ocean  to  Ocean." 

*  Miss  Mary  Allen  West,  Chicago    Union  Signal  — 
"Across  the  Continent." 

T.  J.   Keenan,  Jr.,  Pittsburgh  Press  — 

Feb.    iith.  "Over  the  Rockies." 

"        i5th.  "Salt  Lake  and  Auburn." 

"       2oth.  "Chinatown." 

*  This  most  estimable  lady,  a  distinguished  temperance  advocate,  separated  from  the  party  at  Los  Angeles  to  visit 
J;ipai»  on  missionary  work,  and  died  in  Tokio,  December  ist,  1892. 

148 


T.  J.   Keenan,  Jr.,  Pittsburgh  Press — 

Feb.      22d.  "Monterey,  etc.,  etc." 

"         23d.  "Southern  California." 

Mch.     6th.  "The  Homeward  Trip." 

"       i6th.  "The  Journey's  End." 

W.  V.   Alexander,  Boston    Transcript — 

Feb.    i3th.     "From  Ocean  to  Ocean." 

Lynn  R.   Meekins,   Baltimore  American — 

Feb.    izth.     "From  Snow  to  Flowers." 

"        i4th.     "A  Day  in  Mormondom."     (2) 
Mch.   1 2th.     "Through  New  Mexico." 
"A  Week  in  California." 

Mrs.  E.  M.  Avery,  Cleveland  Leader — 
Jan.     25th.     "A  Glorious  Time." 

(Chicago  to  San   Francisco.) 
"Across  the  Desert." 

E.  H.  O'Hara,  Syracuse — 

Feb.    i3th.     "Some  Things  that  I  Saw." 

M.  r.  Murphy,  Toledo  Bee — 

Jan.     3oth.     "Reception  in  Toledo." 
Feb.       ist.     "Incidents  of  the  Tour." 

E.  J.  Fleming,  Buffalo  Express — 

"Across  the  Continent." 

J.   S.   Keeler,  Boston  Herald— 

Jan.  26th.  "Sight-Seeing  on  the  Pacific  Coast  (San  Jose). 

Feb.  i st.  "Doing  Lower  California." 

"  7th.  "Incidents  of  Interest." 

"  2 1  st.  "Further  Incidents." 

"  28th.  "A  Boston  Delegate  in  Chinatown." 

Mch.  i3th.  "The  Heart  of  Chinatown." 

"  2yth.  "The  Land  of  the  Setting  Sun." 

Mrs.  Frances  E.  Owens,  Chicago  Journal  of  Industrial  Education — 
February,  March  and  April. 

Irving  Watson,  Narragansett  Herald — 

Mrs.  Kate  F.   McElrath,  American  Analyst,  New  York — 
Feb.    25111.     "Atlantic  to  Pacific." 
Mch.       3d. 

Miss  Belle  Gorton,  Chicago   Woman's  News — 
Feb.    i3th.     "Across  the  Continent." 
"       2oth.     "In  California." 

149 


Miss  Belle  Gorton,  Chicago  Woman's  News — 
Mch.     sth. 
mh. 
"       26th. 

Kate  Field's   Washington — 

Jan.     13th.  "International  League  of   Press  Clubs. 

Mch.     Qth.  "Crossing  the  Continent." 

"       i6th.  "Denver." 

"        23d.  "Omaha  and  Palmer  Lake." 

April    6th.  "Glenwood  Springs  and   Zion." 

"       i3th.  "Pioneers  and  Nevada." 

W.  N.   Penney,  New  York  News — 

Feb.    i4th.     "A  Sunday  Amid  the  Rockies." 
"        2 1 st.     "Sunday  Among  the  Palms." 
"       28th.     "Sunday  in  Semi-Tropical  Seas." 

Mch.     6th.     "Sunday  on  the  Road — Niagara." 

Julius  Muehle,  Der  Seebote,  Milwaukee,  Wis. — 
Feb.       3d.     "To  California." 

6th.     "The  League  Convention." 
"        iith.     "Southern  California." 

T.  P.   McElrath,  American  Analyst,  New  York — 
Feb.    i8th.     "Convention  of  Press  Clubs." 

E.   B.   Fisher,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  Eagle — 
Jan.     1 7th.     "The  Press  Excursion." 
"       24th.     "  From  the  Coast." 
"        3tst.     "Some  Rare  Experiences." 
Feb.      7th.     "The  Great  Wonder  of  It." 

William   Berri,   Brooklyn  Standard- Union — 

Feb.       ist.     "Across  the  Continent  and   Back." 


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